It Will Come to You at Night
by BatKate
Summary: Batgirl is alone in Gotham without the Batfamily, but it's up to her to find a missing girl before it's too late. She needs all the help she can get to make that happen … even if that means teaming up with Red Hood, the faceless vigilante whose moral code is so different from her own. But what happens when a reluctant partnership becomes not so reluctant?
1. Chapter 1

In case you didn't know, I don't own DC Comics or its characters.

* * *

_Nothing's ever lost forever_  
_It's just hiding in the recess of your mind_  
_And when you need it_  
_It will come to you at night_  
_— Amanda Palmer_

Barbara Gordon looked out over the ledge. The sun was just a sliver on the horizon — night was about to fall and then it would be her time. It would be Batgirl's time. With dusk turning to night, the city was hers again. And it was time to work.

Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, she made her way to 151st Street. Barbara wasn't sure if the tip she got could be trusted, but it was her only lead. The 22 year-old was up to 136th when she caught a flash of another shadow on the rooftop she just leapt onto. Barbara knew Dick was with the Titans and Tim and Bruce were out of town — but whoever it was held something that flashed of metal.

She stole behind the brick stairwell and turned slowly to catch a view. Holy crap, it was him … the one the mob bosses talked about. They one they were scared of. And he was armed. She waited for him to scope his surroundings and leap to the next rooftop, out of sight before she sighed in relief.

She crouched and waited for that precious black town car to pull into the warehouse. She readied her tools … her weapons … for the take down. But after an hour of crouching on the roof, there was only so much "readying" she could do before she was just wasting time.

"Well, look what we have here. A bat that's lost her way."

Barbara jumped up and turned to find herself face to face with—

"Red Hood," she breathed with a blend of nervousness and defiance.

"Batgirl," he responded, nodding his head with the red helmet that was so obviously his trademark, "You're a long way from home, Batsy."

"You should talk," she said, "Don't you usually stay near Old Town?"

"I go where I need to go."

"Likewise," she shot back.

"So," he walked forward and leaned over to look out at the warehouse, "What do you need the Marcotti clan for?"

"None of your business."

"Suit yourself," he started to walk away leisurely, mocking her with every step. But then he turned around. "Of course, if you told me what you were trying to do, I could maybe _help_ you."

"Why would you help me?"

"Maybe I just enjoy aiding the less fortunate?" She could practically hear his smirk and she absentmindedly wondered if she could shatter his mask with a roundhouse kick to the face.

"Or," he continued, "Maybe we have a common goal in mind."

"Oh, I highly doubt that."

"You'll never know if you don't tell me. Why are you following Talon Marcotti?"

She stopped for a moment. Since he came out of the blue just a few months ago, Red Hood had kept out of the way of the Batfamily for the most part. She had only seen him a couple times before in person, the first time when she and the guys had last worked together. They were going to bring in one of Falcone's crooks … but Red Hood put a bullet through the thug's eyes from his sniper shot above. It was chilling, really. And yet what Barbara remembered most was turning towards the direction of the shot and getting a wave of the arm from the guy before he disappeared.

The second time was only from a distance. She had just said goodnight to Robin after patrol and was heading home when she saw him a few building away looking her direction. He gave her a little two finger salute before jumping down out of sight. Who knew who he really was — who knew how dangerous he really was.

"I think they have a teenage girl," she finally responded against her better judgment.

"Not surprising," he said without hesitation, "Little Talon is fond of the jailbait."

"So I've heard," she said bitterly, straightening her back, "And I have evidence, just not concrete enough for the GPD to get a warrant. But she's gone and I have to find her."

Red Hood circled her a little looking her up and down. She didn't like being evaluated by strangers, especially when she had been at this game far longer than he had. She also didn't like not seeing exactly where his eyes were focused.

"So," he said with a cheerfulness, "we should team up."

"… Team up?"

"Yeah."

"… With you."

"Yes. Team up. With me."

Barbara laughed harshly, which made the Red Hood stop his trail around her.

"Yeah," she said, "I don't think so."

"Why not?" he asked facing her, "Afraid you can't keep up with me?"

She scoffed. "Hardly."

"Afraid the Bat will ground you?"

She didn't respond to him this time, so he took another step forward and leaned in close — it made her shiver a little.

"Afraid you might like it?"

"Dream on," she said as she kept eye contact … with his mask, at least. And she refused to look at any other part of him because damn it, she had a thing for broad shoulders and she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

"So what's the problem,_ Bats_?"

"I don't agree with your methods, _Hood." She crossed her arms._

"You mean how my methods get shit done?"

"More like how your methods get people killed."

"Hey, you don't have to agree with me," he said, "You don't have to like me. But I know these scumbags better than you. I have contacts you don't. And if it comes down to finding that girl while she's still breathing," he poked her shoulder, "I'd think you'd be able to put your batpride aside for her sake."

_Damn_, she thought. She knew he had a point. A really good point.

"What's in it for you?" she kept her arms crossed.

"I can't do a good deed?"

She stared him down and waited. He sighed.

"Maybe I don't like children getting hurt." Simple, straightforward … surprising, actually. Barbara tapped her foot.

"Let me see your eyes. Say it to my face."

The Hood's hands hesitated for a moment, but he pushed on a section of his helmet near his temples. Barbara expected the whole thing to come off, but it only lifted up the opaque eyes of his mask. Unflinching, she leaned in and went on her tip toes so she could see in properly. Soft aquamarine irises met her own pale blue ones as he said just as clearly (his voice echoing a little more within the helmet), "I don't like children getting hurt."

Barbara pursed her lips. She was good at catching liars. He wasn't lying.

"Fine." She put out her hand. He took it.

"Swell," he said as they shook. He put the lenses back down on his mask and got out his grappling hook.

"Where are we going?" Barbara asked as she got out hers. He turned back to look at her and chuckled again.

"Batsy, you're going to have to learn to trust me."

One minute in and she was regretting this partnership already.


	2. Chapter 2

In case you didn't know, I don't own DC Comics or its characters.

* * *

"So are you going to tell me about the case or should I just guess?" Barbara heard crackle through her headset. Red Hood was still in her eyesight, but he knew where they were going and she was starting to lag behind trying to anticipate what direction he would swing next.

"Sonya Rameriez," she said after rolling onto a nearby rooftop and and then grappling again, "16. Her mother tried reporting her missing when she didn't get home from school today."

"And it's too soon to file a missing persons report." Red Hood made a sharp right.

"Exactly." As she got around the corner, she saw him hit the running on the rooftop. As she landed, Barb almost told him to slow down, but there was no way she'd let him think she couldn't keep up.

"So," he said jogging to a halt to look over the edge of the roof, "Why do you think the Marcotti's little piece of shit is involved?"

"Her mother told the police Sonya had been talking to a boy name Tal," Barbara caught up to him, "The mom figured it was someone in her grade, not a 19 year old mob punk. But Talon dropped her off in his car the other night and her mother recognized him. Made a huge scene in the yard and told him to stay away from her girl."

"And you think he didn't follow her instructions?"

"He laughed in her face and said no 'chika' could tell him what to do," Barbara grimaced, "And her daughter refused to talk to her before she left for school today." He thought for a moment.

"Stupid question," Hood raised his index finger, "There's no way she ran away of her own free will?"

"There was a car with the same description as Marcotti's driving around the school after classes ended. And even if she went voluntarily, she's still a minor. And besides, he's still our best lead to finding her."

"You were right," he checked his gun for ammo, "You don't have much to go on."

She raised her eyebrow. "Does going after a mob brat for a crime he might not have committed really worry you?" She winced at her own words, but it made him pause.

"Nope," he happily put the weapon back in his holster, "Sounds good to me."

When they dropped down to the lower level, Barbara finally recognized the area.

"Skid Row?"

"Best place to see the Marcotti gang making the city a little worse. And I'm ready to make their night a lot worse. Ready for some interrogating?" He started moving towards the nearby street, but Barbara pulled on his jacket.

"Wait, you can't just start beating up on gang members."

"Afraid to get your hands dirty, Batsie?" His head tilted down a little and Barbara realized they were both looking at where her hand was still holding tight onto the crook of his sleeve — she practically jumped back as she released her grip.

"No," she put her hands on her utility belt, "if you go out there guns blazing and start asking questions about Sonya, they'll just go back to Talon and tell him we're looking for her. He could panic and try to get rid of any evidence pointing to her. The longer we can avoid Talon finding out about us, the more likely we'll find Sonya before something terrible happens."

Red Hood stared at her for a moment — she was getting really tired of not getting to read his facial expressions.

"Good point," he finally said, "We'll just be subtle then."

They made their way down the alley, Hood stopping them before they hit the street. He looked around the corner — a closed watch repair shop, an out of business Chinese restaurant and a strip club.

"I'm guessing we're not here to pick up your pocketwatch," Barb muttered.

"If it helps, we're not going in," he said still staring at the seedy establishment's front doors, "But Talon's lacky Markie Palmer loves this place and he usually leaves around midnight."

"How do you know?"

"His favorite girl Candy gets off work at midnight."

"And what, she's a friend of yours?"

"Something like that."

"You're disgusting," she said as she scrunched her nose.

Unfortunately, she was quickly gaining an uncanny talent of knowing when Red Hood was smirking. She did not want that superpower and was about to tell him just that when—

"There he is," he whispered pointing to a scrawny guy with greased back hair. The goon pulled his collar up and made his way down the dark street. Hood motioned for them to follow him, and as they crept behind the target, Barbara was grateful that her partner at least knew how to use stealth. Of course that stealth didn't do any good when he grabbed the guy and pushed him against the wall.

_Good job at subtlety,_ Barb thought.

"Hey watch it— oh, _Red_!" The guy's eyes went wide and smiled weakly as Hood's forearm pushed against his throat.

"Hey Markie," Hood's voice was deeper, almost sinister.

"Look, I haven't been selling to kids, OK? You said you'd leave me alone if—"

"Shut it, Markie," he spat, "Batgirl, tell him why we're here."

"We want to know a little bit about Talon Marcotti," Barbara said as she got in his face, arms crossed, "Like say, his schedule for the next two weeks."

"I—I don't know what you're—"

"Do I look like I'm an idiot?" Hood said darkly.

"Look Red, I really can't tell you or—" There was a huge crack as Hood broke his pinky. The guy screamed, but he could only muster a whimper once Hood put his gun to his forehead.

"_Stop it!_" Barbara shouted despite herself. She hated herself for it, but in that moment he was terrifying. Hood looked at her — she expected him to snap at her to shut up, but he didn't.

"You know," Hood said looking back at the guy, "I _really_ don't like making my girl upset, but I'm also not leaving until I get my information, so I'm hoping you'll tell me what I want or else I pull the trigger."

"OK OK!" Markie started to cry, "He's got some drug imports coming in the next week, he's heading a meeting with Parshikov's gang on Thursday …" he stammered trying to remember, "Uh, he's helping something called Piraeus on Wednesday!"

"What's Piraeus?" Hood pressed the gun a little harder against his skull."

"I don't know what it is, they won't tell me! I just know it's going down Thursday night! I don't even know where it's happening!"

"Fine," Hood released him, "Go get yourself to a hospital for that finger. But know that if you tell _anyone_ we talked …"

"I get it! I get it!"

"Well that worked out good," Hood said cheerily after they got back on the roof, the poor guy running out of sight. His voice had changed back from dangerous Hood to … just Hood.

"Your girl?" She said bitterly, "I don't appreciate you calling me your girl."

"I improvised," he shrugged, "You have to admit that it worked .. the worried damsel act, trying to stop her lover from doing something terrible in a cold rage? It's basically just good cop, bad cop."

"Let's get something straight" she glared at him, "I am _not_ a damsel and I am _not_ your girl and you are most definitely _not_ my lover. Are we clear?"

"Crystal," he said and cricked his neck, "Anyway, we know what Talon is doing the next week without giving away what we're looking for. Mission accomplished."

"Something like that."

"Any idea of what Piraeus means?" He put the gun back in its holster.

"I recognized the name," Barbara said, "My contact at the GPD has heard rumors of it for weeks, but no one knows what it is exactly."

"You sure you can trust your contact?"

"… Commissioner Gordon."

He huffed. "You _really_ sure you can trust your contact?"

She was this close to punching him.

"SO!" she said a little too loudly, "what are we going to do now?"

"I dunno," he said, getting out his grappling hook, "Find some more guys and ask what the hell 'Piraeus' is about?"

"And when you say 'ask,' you mean…"

"Putting my gun to their heads until they talk."

She glared at him. "As _fun_ as that might be, I have a more organized way to research information."

"Let me guess. Daddybats has a library?"

"Computer, actually," she gritted, "And you can't come."

"Oh gee, does this mean you aren't inviting me to your birthday party?" he asked mockingly.

"Charming."

"Tell you what, beautiful," he was face-to-face with her again, "You go do your little sexy librarian thing while I take the hands-on approach. Here." He tossed her a cheap looking cell phone. "It's pre-paid. Call the number on the back when you find out anything. Check you later, partner." He gave her a two finger salute before leaping to the next roof.


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own DC Comics.

* * *

"Miss Barbara?"

"_Wha?_" A hand on Barbara's shoulder shook her into consciousness — she willed her head off the dash of the batcomputer. "Oh, hi Alfred."

"I saw someone had come in last night, and since Master Bruce and Tim are still out of the country … well, I made your favorite breakfast." He put down the plate of toast and eggs.

"Alfred," she said, dipping the toast into the runny yolk, "You're a lifesaver."

"Of course, it would help if it was still _morning_," Alfred said, "instead of 4 in the afternoon."

Barbara groaned. _Damn it._ She had gotten into the cave at 1 am and had worked well into the morning before she must have passed out. She honestly had thought she could survive without sleep. "Fantastic, I lost a whole days work."

"Well, even bats need to sleep sometimes, Miss Barbara," he said as he poured the tea.

She smirked. "Funny."

"I realize I am not the Great Detective, Miss Barbara," he poured her another cup, "but may I inquire about the case?"

As she made quick work of the meal, Barbara caught Alfred up on Sonya's disappearance and the intel collected … conveniently leaving out her temporary partnership with the Red Hood.

"Bruce had apparently been looking into this Piraeus thing before he left," she waved at the screen, "It's some kind of import/export and definitely illegal, but that's as far as he got."

"Perhaps there's something to do with the name," Alfred said.

"The name?"

"Well, the Marcotti's are Italian. I believe 'piraeus' is Greek. If it didn't have a larger meaning, why would they choose a Greek name?"

After some vigorous research online, Barbara's eyes lit up.

"Alfred, you're a genius!" She kissed his cheek, snatched up the pre-paid phone and dialed the number Hood gave her.

"If I may ask, who are you calling, Miss Barbara?"

"Oh," she said, hiding the panic in her voice as the phone began to ring, "Um, just calling to tell my dad I won't be in tonight."

"Batsie," she heard on the other line, "You got something for me?"

"Oh hi Dad!" she forced a smile.

"… What now?"

"Yeah I know you asked me to call last night. I'm so sorry, Daddy, I fell asleep studying. Hey, I just wanted to let you know that I might not come over to the apartment tonight," she paused a moment for the imaginary response. "Yeah I know I promised but….." Barbara trailed off once she saw Alfred make his way upstairs, "OK, we can talk now."

"What was that about exactly? I mean, I'm OK with you calling me Daddy if you're into that—"

"Shut it," she grumbled, "someone was in the room. Look, I know what Talon is planning. Meet me by city hall at sunset?"

"Sure, as long as you call me Daddy aga—"

She hung up before he could finish his sentence, but as she headed to the shower and grabbed a clean suit, Barbara had to tell herself to stop smiling.

"So," the Hood said a few hours later on the courthouse building, "What did you find?"

"Human trafficking," she handed him the printouts, "Piraeus is a port well known in Ancient Greece for being a red district. Batman had already figured out the project was some kind of illegal import and export, but didn't know the Marcotti's were heading it. The Marcotti's already had a hold on the drug business in town and their money laundering is solid, so that leaves—"

"Human trafficking. Sending girls overseas."

"Girls like Sonya," Barbara added, "If only we knew for sure that's what Talon took her for."

"Well," Hood said, "we do."

"… We do?"

"You forget, beautiful," he stuffed the printouts into his jacket, "While you did your thing, I was doing mine. I found some more of Talon's buddies and started asking questions."

"If you gave away—"

"Trust me, I didn't mention the girl. Didn't _need_ to — turns out if you put a gun to these cowards' temples they'll spill their guts about almost everything. Want to know which one of them wants to fuck Mrs. Marcotti?"

He took her glare for an answer.

"Anyway," he continued, "all four guys I talked to eventually told me that Talon didn't just pick up the girl to piss off her mother — he's going to use her for something this week. I'm guessing she'll assume he's taking her on a romantic vacation—"

"And she'll only find out where she's really going when it's too late," she nodded. "If they take her out of the country, we'll never find her."

"We're going to have to find out where she's being sent out from on Thursday," he said looking at the small sliver of sun still peeking out of the horizon, "and I think I know how we can find out."

"So, Old Town?" Barbara said as she put her batcycle in park.

"Yep, Old Town," Hood got off his own bike, "I know some people here who might be able to get us the info we need." She looked around the area — abandoned businesses and flickering streetlights and far down the street…

"Prostitutes?" she looked at him, "Your source of information is a prostitute?"

"_Multiple_ prostitutes, actually," he started walking.

"Oh, of course there's more than one. My mistake," she rolled her eyes and caught up with him. "Are you going to pull out your gun for them, too?"

"Not exactly," he said before waving to a girl leaning against a nearby building. She turned to look their way before —

"Hoodie!" she squealed with delight and ran into his arms, her brown leather miniskirt hiking up a little higher and her messy ponytail swinging back and forth with the momentum.

"Hey girlie. Still breaking hearts?" he asked as she kissed the cheek of his helmet.

"Always," she giggled. As Hood's hand touched the girl's lower back for balance, Barbara felt her cheeks grow red and really wished she was anywhere else at the moment.

"We've missed you so much! Where have you been?" the blonde pouted, her neon blue eyeshadow shimmering with every eyelash flutter.

"I've been busy," Hood said teasingly, but the girl's eyes landed on Barbara.

"_Oh_," she smiled, "I can see that." The girl jumped out of his arms. "Hi, I'm Jenny."

"Hi," Barbara managed and shook Jenny's hand.

"So," the girl said looking between the two of them, "are you and Hood—"

"Jen," he put his hand on the girl's shoulder, "We need to see the boss. Mind taking us over there?"

Jenny grinned. "Sure thing!" She hooked his arm and pulled him down the street, her platform boots clicking with every step. Barb followed in their wake.

"So," Barbara caught up with them, "Where are we going?"

"Headquarters," Jenny said.

"The Angels rotate buildings every few days to keep the cops and pimps off their track," Hood added.

"But we don't have to move nearly so much now thanks to Hoodie," Jenny said affectionately, squeezing his arm — Barbara glared despite herself. They made it to an apartment complex, seemingly abandoned by the owners but still full of light in the windows. Walking inside, Barbara was met with several girls in short skirts, tight shorts and bare midriffs — they all grinned when they saw who else came through the door.

"Hood!" a pretty strawberry blonde ran up to him, "We haven't seen you all of this month."

"And we had so much fun the last time!" Another girls added, the rest of them giggling in the background.

"He's been _busy_, Holly," Jenny said to the blonde and smirked. Barbara could see her motion slightly in her direction. Red Hood must have noticed too because he let out an uncomfortable cough.

"Hol," he said, "I need to talk to Annika. Does she have time?"

"She always has time for you, sugar … and for your friends," Holly smiled knowingly between the two of them before leading them into the next room.

"Red Hood, in the flesh," a gorgeous woman cooed as they entered the office. Despite dressing relatively casually (tight black jeans and a tank top with pink bra straps accentuating her olive skin), she oozed confidence and power as she greeted them.

"It's been a little while, Annika," Hood said, the smart-ass tone Barbara knew so well softened to affection. The woman laughed warmly.

"Well, that just means you're hard at work, doesn't it?" She walked around her desk and gave him a hug, before seeing who else was in the room.

"Oh, you brought company?"

"You could say that. Batsie, this is Annika, madam of the Gotham Angels."

"Hello," Barbara said, holding out her hand, "I'm—"

"Batgirl. Yes, I recognize you," the madam took her hand, "You helped one of my friends last year during a mugging. I didn't know you were with Red, though."

"Oh," Barbara blushed despite herself, "we're not—"

"We're just working on a case together," he said simply, "That's why we're here actually. We need some information."

"Well," Annika smiled, "anything for my business partner. Sit and we'll talk."

"We're trying to track down a girl taken by Talon Marcotti," Barbara explained as she pulled up a chair. She noticed Annika tense up at the name. "I take it you're not a fan."

"He's scum like the rest of his family," she said, then looked grimly at Barbara. "You planning to kill him?"

"We're planning to bring him to justice," Barbara said tensely, leaning forward.

"Annika," Hood put his hand on Barbara's to steady her, "Talon is involved with something called 'piraeus.' We think it's human trafficking and we know it's going down sometime tomorrow night."

"But you don't know where or when, is that it?"

Hood nodded, "I could really use your help with this. Do you think you can use your connections?"

"Please," she waved her hand, "I'd do anything to help you — the Marcotti connection just sweetens the deal, doesn't it?"

"You're a saint, An."

"Oh, you know as well as I do that's not true," she smiled, "But while the girls and I get your information, can you and the Bat help us with a little turf problem?"

"That's part of my job — what's the issue?"

"Go upstairs to Kensie … she can tell you about it."

Barbara started to get up with Hood (just now realizing he had been holding her hand the whole time), but Annika stopped her.

"Why don't you stay with me, Batgirl? Hood, you know where Kensie's room is."

Hood paused to look between the two women. "Annika…" he warned.

"Don't 'Annika' me. Go." She shook her hands to motion him through the doorway.

"So," the madam drawled out once Hood had closed the door, "I should have known you're the redhead he keeps talking about."

"… W—what?" Barbara stammered, "No! I mean, we hadn't even spoken until last night."

"I'm sure you hadn't," she said as she folded her hands on her desk, "But I bet he was the one who suggested you work together."

Her silence spoke volumes — Annika smirked. Barbara really didn't liked to be mocked — her temper was flaring and her mind went to what one of the girls said earlier — _"We had so much fun the last time!"_

"So what," Barbara muttered bitterly, "He beats up guys who piss you off and you let him sleep with your girls?"

The madam's eyes went dark. "You're a smart woman. You know what life is like for girls like mine, don't you? The pimps, the lure of drugs, the johns ready to take advantage of them?"

Barbara felt guilt creep up on her. "Yes," she nodded, "I'm sorry. I know it's not easy."

"No, it isn't. And for a long time I was trying to make life as good for my girls as I could, but I'm just one person and the pimps knew that. Then Hood walked through my door."

She paused for a moment and played with her bracelet.

"It's not that he's a man," she looked back up, "If a cop or even a mobster had come and offered his help, it wouldn't have changed a thing. But to the scum of this city, Hood is more than a man. He's—"

"A symbol," Barbara smiled, tapping the bat on her chest. "Yeah, that's effective."

Annika smiled back and held up her bracelet. It was a thick red band with a angel charm dangling from it. Barbara realized all the girls seemed to have them. "This tells anyone looking to hurt my girls that Red Hood will come for them and make them pay. That doesn't just mean the pimps and johns … this keeps the girls safe when they're off of work, too. He also helped me finally set the whole crew up with a local health clinic. My girls are clean now … and the johns know condoms are not optional."

"Wow," Barbara said lamely. "I … I didn't know that about him." Then again, what did she know about him?

"Well, he's worth knowing. And for the record, we pay him with a cut of the profits just like any other partnership, but if they want to show him a good time for helping make sure they get home alive and without bruises around their necks, then that's their decision.

"Besides," the madam continued, "from what my girls have told me and the noises coming from the rooms upstairs, Hood has a talent for making sure everyone has a good time."

Barbara felt a twinge in her belly as far too many unwanted images hit her brain — the madam seemed to enjoy the blush that was surely spreading over Barbara's face.

"By the way," Annika smirked, "where did you get your costume?"

"Uh," Barbara said flustered, "why?"

"Well, it's just that some of our johns are really into roleplaying and we've had several requests for Batgir—"

"Hey," Hood opened the door, making Barb jump, "We got to get going." He looked to Annika, "An, when you find something, you know how to reach me. And remember it's going down tomorrow so—"

"The sooner the better. No problem," Annika stood and walked the vigilantes to the door. "It was wonderful to meet you, Batgirl. A friend of Hood's is a friend of ours, so if you ever need anything—"

"Same here," Barb smiled. She walked out before she could see the madam give Red Hood a wink.

"Holly," Annika called out after the two were down the street.

"Yes boss?"

"Tell Sandy, Mag and Izzy to get out there right now and start finding out whatever they can about 'Piraeus.' We need to know where it's going down and when before tomorrow night." She looked out the window and sighed a little.

"Something wrong, boss?" Holly asked behind her.

"Not really," she turned, "I'm just not looking forward to breaking it to the girls that Hoodie's going off the market."


	4. Chapter 4

_Please note: this is an AU, so certain aspects of the Batfamily history are different from official canon._

_I don't own DC Comics._

* * *

"OK," Hood said once they waved goodbye to Annika and her girls, "the guy we're going after should be up on the northside of town. 90th and Charleston." Barbara nodded and tried to pay attention, but Annika's words spun in her head.

"It's the girl's old pimp, who also happens to be the father of her toddler," he continued.

"_Hood's worth knowing._"

"He's threatened to take their kid away unless she comes back to work for him."

"_Besides, from what my girls have told me and the noises coming from the rooms upstairs …_"

"So we're going to go have a little 'chat' with him."

"_… Hood has a talent for making sure everyone has a good time._"  
"Hey." She was nudged by Hood's arm.

"What?" She blinked.

"You OK, Batsie? You've been a little quiet," he said as they got to the bikes, still parked a few blocks away from the Angels HQ.

"Just … thinking," she said, putting on her helmet. _Thinking about you being more than a smartass with a gun. Thinking about how grateful Annika looked to know you. Thinking about what amazing things you must have done to those girls when you were alone…_

"Annika didn't scare you back there, did she?" She looked at Hood, not sure if he was mocking her or asking a genuine question.

"No, just … it was educational."

"Oh yeah? Did she offer to teach you some new moves?" he gripped the handbars and went to shift the bike into gear.

"Actually," she said as nonchalantly as she could, "she said you were teaching the girls yourself."

His foot slipped off the shift and he almost fell right off the thing. She tried not to smirk as she started her bike and started toward their destination, perhaps a little slower than normal so he could eventually catch up.

"You think you're pretty clever, don't you?" she heard in her headset amid the torrent sound of the wind as she sped through the city.

"On occasion," she smirked as she saw his bike in her rearview, "Anyway, you know you love it." She waited for his comeback, but it never came. It was only when they arrived at the 90th block and parked their bikes out of view that he finally broke the silence.

"OK," they moved into the alley, "we've got about an hour bumper between when he's supposed to arrive for his poker game. He'll be coming in through here," he pointed at the door next to her, "So we're going to get up on the roof to keep a bird's eye view. The most important thing is to get him before he opens the door or else we could have more pricks to deal with."

"Right," she surveyed the area, "What if he has company when he's walking up?"

"… Then we'll deal with it."

"Fantastic," Barbara grumbled, going to her utility belt, "You should really be glad you have me."

"Why exactly?" She could feel his eyes on her as she got out what she needed.

"These," she holds up one of the dime-sized bug, "are motion triggers. By putting them in the darker spots of the surrounding areas, we'll have all our bases covered and nab him before he gets close to the building."

"Sounds like a plan," he said (like always she couldn't see his face, but Barbara could guess he was smiling), "I guess I'll get things ready above."

It only took 10 minutes to place and set up the sensors — she wasn't sure why she was happy to get up to the roof so quickly. If she was being honest with herself, maybe some of it had to do with impressing Hood. _That's silly. You're just glad you're gaining his trust,_ she thought, _for the mission._ Right. Mission. She grappled up the four stories up to the roof and as about to tell him everything went smoothly when she realized — he had his helmet off.

She instinctively hid behind the large air conditioning unit next to her, her head hitting the metal. She took a deep breath in. _Get a grip, Gordon._ She slowly peered around the corner to get a better view.

Hood was still facing away from her. She could see a lit cigarette between his fingers and could almost hear him take a long drag from it. There wasn't much she could see, really, except for him running the other gloved hand through his hair — pitch black and shaggy. Damn it — she had a thing for dark hair. He had taken off his leather jacket revealing his skin-tight black armor shirt and his tight gray jeans that showed off what she just realized was a really nice ass. Damn it — she had a thing for nice asses, too. Her heart skipped a little at the view, but that's when Hood flicked the cigarette off the building and put his helmet back on. She hid again behind the corner and counted to ten before walking casually towards him.

"Sensors are set."

"Sweet." With that blank red helmet back on, she couldn't help but wish he had turned around so she could finally—

"You shouldn't smoke, you know," she said a little too quickly, "It's terrible for you."

"Wait," he said, "were you watching me, Batsie?"

"No! I … can smell it on you."

"So you've been smelling me?"

She huffed. "In your dreams, leather boy."

They stood in silence for about 10 minutes, just watching the street and keeping an eye on the sensor remote. But—

"Why do you even wear that thing?" she finally blurted out like an idiot.

He paused. "You're going to have to be more specific, girlie."

"The helmet. What's up with the helmet?"

"Yeaaaah," he dragged out, "I'm not talking about that."

"Oh come on!" She almost threw her hands up in the air — why was he so infuriating? And then he chuckled.

"If you want to know about me, Bats, then I want to know about you."

Barbara eyed him warily. "What did you have in mind?"

"Well," he tried, "let's play a game then. You answer a question, then I do."

She raised her eyebrow. "Any question? What if one of us doen't want to answer?"

"Then you have to answer something just as good."

She looked down and tried to organize the pros and cons in her brain, but Hood leaned in and that just broke her concentration.

"Are you in or out, Batsie?"

Looking straight at him (almost defiantly), she answered, "In." She leaned on the AC unit and added, "But I get to ask first."

Hood just shrugged and got next to her. "Shoot."

"Why do you wear your helmet? Why not just a mask?"

He sighed a little. "Why do you wear a cowl instead just a mask?"

Barbara thought about her dad. "I don't want to be easily recognized."

"There's your answer. Now for my turn—"

"Nope," she said, "You just asked me a question. It's my turn again." She didn't hold back her grin when he conceded. "Has anyone seen you take off the helmet?"

"No."

She blinked. "What?"

"No, I don't let anyone see me without my helmet."

"What about—" Barbara stopped herself, but it was too late.

"What about what?" he asked with a tilt of his head.

"Nevermind," she I already asked you a question so that's against the rules."

"I'll allow it," Hood said, "What were you going to ask?"

"What about Annika's girls … when you're having 'fun'?"

He paused before chuckling.

"Oh. No, they haven't seen me without my helmet, either. I, uh," he leaned in and whispered, "I find blindfolding them is helpful when I need to use my mouth."

She rolled her eyes, but it came with a chuckle. "Good for them, I guess. OK, now it's your turn to ask a question."

"What's up with that Nightwind guy?" Hood said a little too quickly. Barbara coughed a little.

"Um … You mean Nightwing?"

"Yeah," he said more casually, picking at the seam of his jacket, "I mean, that night I saw him in town you two seemed close. Are you—"

"That's … kind of personal," she rubbed the back of her neck where her cape hit her cowl.

"Well," Hood crossed his arms, "you either have to answer that or tell me your dirtiest sex fantasy."

Barbara glared at him, but he just shrugged.

"Those are the rules."

"Fine," she sighed, "We dated. But we're just friends now." She hope that would satisfy him, but he motioned for her to continue.

"We were high school sweethearts, in a sense. He was actually the first Robin — I never know how many people know that — and we kept dating even after he became Nightwing and left for Bludhaven. But the distance was tough for both of us and…" she trailed off and closed her eyes.

"What?" she heard him say softly beside her.

"And then someone we cared about was killed. That tore the whole family apart for a while." She thought about Jason — cocky, dorky, sweet Jason Todd. And then she thought of the funeral and how it was one of the only times she ever cried in front of Bruce. "Nightwing and I needed space and that was right before the— well, he's happy now and his girlfriend's really nice, so it all worked out OK."

"What were you going to say?" Hood's voice was serious and clear for once … and for some reason, she took a deep breath and answered him.

"I—I was shot?" She hated that came it out as a question. "Several times, actually — all up and down my legs and one to my gut. It wasn't even on duty — they used me to get to someone who loves me."

"Jesus, Ba—batgirl," Hood whispered.

"The doctors," she looked out at the street, "the doctors said that if the shot to my torso had been just a centimeter to the right I could have lost my legs. It still took a good 14 months of physical therapy before I could walk again."

"And you still went back to the job?"

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Why wouldn't I?" He didn't reply.

"So," Barbara broke the silence, "since it's my turn, when was the first time—"

"Do you want to join me?" He faced her.

She blinked. "… What?"

"Do you want to join me? Be my partner permanently."

"That's— it's not your turn to ask," she blurted out.

"I'm not playing anymore," Hood answered, "Are you interested?"

"Hood," she stumbled, "I—" She went silent as the remote blinked red in the upper left corner.

"Someone's coming up the northside alley," she whispered and pointed. They looked over the edge of the building to see a male figure walking by their building.

"Blond hairtips and red leather jacket," Hood whispered, "That's our guy." The duo slipped down to the street and silently stalked the pimp. Once they got within arms reach—

The guy's skull made a harsh crack sound as he hit the wall.

"What the fu—"

"Hey, Bobby," Hood had his scarier voice back, his mask an inch away from, "Do you know who I am?" Bobby looked him up and down.

"Oh yeah," the pimp sneered, "you're the guy who's fucking my whore."

"Shut the hell up," Barbara growled, but the guy scoffed.

"So what, you screwing little Kensie and the Batman's slut?"

That's when Hood's fist hit the scumbag's gut hard. He just laughed through his coughing.

"Is all of this about Kensie? You know as well as I do she's going to come back to me sooner or later. She loves me. And she'll do what I say."

His blood obviously boiling, Hood went for his gun, but the guy recovered quick and headbutted Hood.

"No!" Barbara shouted as the gun slid a few feet away. Bobby lunged for it at the same time as she did. They struggled on the ground before—

"DON'T. MOVE." Barbara stood and put her boot right on the guy's chest, the gun pointed right at his face. "You OK, Hood?" She called without breaking eye contact.

"Yeah," she heard behind her.

"You stupid bitch," the guy coughed, "Ya think this is supposed to scare me?"

She glared at him, her aim unwavering, but he laughed.

"Baby girl, you don't have the nerve to use that thing. Hell, I doubt you could handle that—"

The shot rang through the alley as she hit the spot two inches from his left ear.

"JESUS CHRIST!" Bobby flinched.

"You were saying?" she said with a smirk. "Now listen up," she leaned over, putting the barrel to his forehead. "My man over there? That's Red Hood. You better remember his name because he protects the Angels and he doesn't fire warning shots. If we catch you near Kensie, her boy or any of our other friends, you won't live to see another day. Are we clear?"

After Bobby nodded, Barbara released him and let him run down the alley and out of sight. The rush of adrenaline was intense and gratifying and it took a deep breath for her to calm down enough to hand the gun back to Hood on the floor.

"Wha—what the _hell_ was that?" he gasped.

Trying not to blush, she shrugged it off. "My dad made sure I knew my way around a gun."

"That was," he tried to catch his breath, "the hottest thing I've ever scene."

"It's not a big deal." _Don't blush. Don't blush._

"You're incredible," he stood up, "And if you can hold your own like that, why are you holding yourself back with the Bats?"

"What are you talking about?" she said, bending over to dusted herself off (and avoid his eye).

"No one who can bring a man to his knees like that should be held back by an aging hero with an antiquated, impossible moral code."

"And what?" she snapped, "I should join you instead?"

"Yeah, you should."

"You're crazy."

"I'd pay you well. Better than the Bat, I bet."

She looked away again and she knew it was a tell.

"Wait," Hood said, "Time out — he's not even paying you?!" She tried to walk down the alley, but he followed. "Shit Batsie, I'll at least pay you."

"With blood money," she said over her shoulder.

"Taken from the mobs," he said tensely, "which would otherwise used to hurt more people."

Barbara turned to face him. "You kill people," she said slowly — he only scoffed.

"I'm sorry if I'm not going to weep over dead rapists and drug lords."

"Yeah, and the ends always justify the means, right?" she snapped. "I'm sorry, but those are lines I won't cross."

"Jesus," he said with frustration, "you're such a tight ass."

"Fuck you!" she shouted.

"No really, you're so afraid of living on the edge that you never actually live. You never let yourself go to your full potential and you never let yourself be happy."

"I live just fine and I don't hold myself back and I'm very happy, thank you very much." She crossed her arms. Hood looked right at her for a moment before—

"When was the last time you were fucked?"

"_Excuse me?_" she said shrilly, "Who I sleep with is none of your—"

Hood scowled. "I'm not talking about sleeping with someone or making love." He moved fast towards her. "When was the last time you were _fucked_?"

"W—what?" she stuttered, feeling the cool brick on her back as he leaned in.

"Pushed against the wall, hands over your head," he said with a dark intensity, "Fucked into oblivion by a man who deserves you."

She didn't know what to say, partially because his words sent shockwaves through her belly but partially because she didn't have a good answer. She just knew his words were making her so _wet_.

"If you'd just let go, you'd …" he started, his masked face just inches from hers as he whispered, "You could light the sky on fire."

And then his hand brushed her inner thigh, eliciting a sweet moan from Barbara's lips. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she tilted her face to the sky. But his hand left her — she almost whined for the lack of contact. She opened her eyes and saw him back up slowly.

"You're strong and clever and deadly, Batsie. You and me, we could change Gotham together. Think about it."

Practically holding her breath, Barbara waiting for him to turn the corner before putting her hand between her legs and rubbing vigorously. Any humiliation she could have felt in what she was doing was overwhelmed by the how horny Hood made her. But no matter how hard she rubbed, the spring was wound too tight and she just couldn't get relief. Her fist hit the wall in frustration when she finally stopped trying. _What am I doing?_ She asked herself as she looked back up at the stars.

She got back to her bike a few blocks away. There was a note.

_"Annika called. Meet me tonight at the Port Adams docks at midnight. Think about what I said. -RH"_

She was thinking about it. All of it. And that was the problem.


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own DC Comics ... unfortunately.

* * *

After what had happened just a couple hours before, Barbara fell asleep that night worried her mind would betray her with a sex dream involving that red helmet and those talented fingers. Instead she had the same dream she always had — the nightmare she always seemed to have. First her father bled out on the floor of his office in the GPD. She tried to run through the station to reach him but the office kept getting farther and farther away. The scene blurred out and she found herself there in the snow again, falling to her knees as she realized the figure silhouetted by the flames was Bruce carrying Jason's limp body. Everything was shattering around her and she wanted to scream, but it was like the world was muted. And then she heard the laugh — and saw the barrel of the gun. And suddenly she was looking up at the ceiling and everything was pain. She heard Dick and Bruce shouting in the background; two gunshots rang out and there was silence. She only realized she was about to die when the clown appeared looking down at her, gun pointed at her head. "Say hello to Robin for me," he sneered before pulling the trigger.

Barbara woke up to the phone ringing. She did her best to ignore her cold sweat and grabbed it.

"Hello?" her voice shook.

"Batsie."

Her eyes shot open — she'd picked up the pre-paid cell. _Crap._

"Batsie?" Hood asked, "Are you—"

"I'm fine," she shook it off, "What's going on?"

"I talked to Annika again — the girls found out there's a warehouse by the docks where the 'cargo' is going to be held for a while before moving them out. Want to meet me at 16th and Flint around 11:45 to check it out?"

"S—sure," she nodded, "I'll be there."

"… Batgirl," he said a moment later, "Is everything OK?"

"I … bad dream," she sighed, "I'm OK. I'll see you tonight."

"Look forward to it. Now get back to sleep, beautiful."

Barbara put down the phone next to her alarm clock — it read 8:21 am. 15-some hours to prepare for what should be the most awkward rescue mission ever.

* * *

"11:30. You're early," she heard him say behind her. She resisted turning around, choosing to stay perched on the rooftop corner with her binoculars in place.

"I like to be prepared, Red Hood."

"I can see that," he said lightly. She anticipated him trying to touch her shoulder or graze her arms — she was ready to tell him to back off and stay professional — but he sat down on the edge of the building a couple feet from her, his legs dangling off the side. "Found anything good?"

"There's been activity for the last half hour at least," she said, handing over the binoculars (trying to ignore the second their gloves touched), "They were already in when I got here. I counted at least 10 armed thugs, maybe 15 girls. I couldn't see any of the girls' faces, though."

"And Talon?"

"Still in there. I'm thinking we—" Barbara went silent as she saw Talon and some other goons walked out.

"I'm going out to check on the transport," Talon's nasally voice reached them a few stories up, "They can't be out in the open for more than a couple minutes, you understand?" She could see the thugs nod before they turned the corner.

"We're gonna have to move fast," Hood said.

"Yeah, but we need to be discrete. Actually discrete," she stressed.

"Fine, what do you suggest?"

She sighed. "They're keeping the girls on the top floor. We go in through the roof and silently take down each guy one at a time."

"Got it. After you, Batsie."

Barbara grunted as she took down her fifth guard. She couldn't help but think Bruce would have been proud of her stealth technique … especially considering Hood's technique was slamming the butt of his gun against each guy's head.

"What did I say?" she grumbled.

"Hey, I'm being quiet about it," he shrugged, "Now where are these girls?"

"Next room," she said as she handed him smoke pellets, "I saw the girls tied up on the far side of the room so as long as we grab everyone near the door fast, we should be set. Ready?"

He cricked his neck. "Always, beautiful."

On the count of three, they opened the door. The smoke bombs were thrown in, hissing as they rolled to a stop at the thugs' feet. Barbara and Hood dropped to their knees. Wild shots fired above their heads. Barbara aimed her batbolas at the thugs' ankles; each one delivered an electric shock before the target even hit the floor. The duo rushed in, kicking away stray guns-and double checking that their assailants were out the smoke cleared, they were finally able to see the terrified figures huddled in the corner.

"It's OK," Barbara said as soothingly as possible, "I'm Batgirl and this is Red Hood. We're the good guys. We're going to get you out of…" She trailed off when she realized all dozen or so of the girls still looked terrified. And none of them looked Hispanic. In fact, they all looked—

"Vy mozhete menya ponyat?" she tried. They all nodded meekly. _Oh no,_ she thought.

"Gde vy zhivete?" she asked the oldest.

"Moskva," the teenager said, clutching what might have been her younger sister in her arms.

"Goddamnit," Barbara cursed as she turned to Hood.

"Wait, what's going on?"

"They're Russian," she said, "Talon wasn't shipping girls overseas — he was bringing them in. Whatever Talon did with Sonya, this isn't it."

"Fuck," he whispered.

"Look," Barbara cleared her head, "we have to get these girls out of here."

"_Obviously,_" Hood said, "but how are we going to do that?"

She looked at the shaking girls, who were staring at Hood like he was some kind of demon.

"Nashi imena Batgirl i Red Hood," Barbara said with that same soothing voice from before, "My druzʹyaBatman." She pointed at the symbol on her chest and the girls seemed to understand.

"Vy dochʹ Batman?" the youngest girl (no older than 10) asked shyly. Barbara smiled.

"Da," she whispered, "eto ya. I Red Hood eto otvazhnyy geroy, tozhe. My pomozhem vam dobratʹsya do svoikh roditeley. No vy dolzhny poyti s nami, i vesti sebya ochenʹ tikho, khorosho?"

The girls all nodded and stood up. She got them to hold hands (the youngest even holding onto Hood's glove) while she went to her wrist communicator.

_B-03 to CGordon : human trafficking. Warehouse at 16th and Flint. Marcotti gang. ASAP._

_Acknowledged, _he sent back.

"OK," she said to Hood, "As long as we're quiet I think we can sneak out through the—"

"Holy— the upstairs guys have been knocked out!" someone yelled outside the door, "PLAN B! PLAN B!"

"So much for sneaking," Hood grabbed his gun and kicked open the door. He managed to snipe the thug running down the stairs (the girls shrieked from the noise), but the damage was done. And when the smoke hit Barbara's nose, she knew what Plan B was.

"Those bastards are setting the whole warehouse on fire!" she turned to Hood.

"So I'm guessing we're still taking the roof exit?" Hood quipped before motioning for the girls to follow him. Barbara started helping the older girls up to the sunroof, then Hood passed up the younger girls. The heat was creeping up on them as the fire had expanded up the decades-old wood of the building. She wasn't sure how much time they had, but it wasn't going to be long before the whole thing collapsed.

"Is that everyone?" Barbara called loudly over the crackling of the fire below.

"I think—" Hood was cut off by a blood-curdling scream from somewhere behind them.

"Katya!" one of the girls shouted down from the roof.

"Fuck," Hood looked back before turning to Barbara, "Get on the roof and—"

"Get the girls down. Got it!" She went to climb up, but—

"Hood!" she called out. He looked at her and she realized she had no idea what to say. "Just… don't die, OK?" She almost thought that she could see him smile before he ran into the opaque smoke. When she got up with the rest of the girls, she was grateful to find the firefighters setting up ladders to get the girls all down. Once the last girl was on the ground, Barbara dropped down to find Hood. But he wasn't there.

"Has anyone else come out?" she asked the fire captain as calmly as she could. Before he could answer, the sky went ablaze as the roof collapsed. Barbara's eyes went wide — her first and only instinct was to get in there. To find Hood. To make sure he was OK. But even as she tried to push through the firefighter to get back into the warehouse, the main floors flew open to reveal—

"Hood!" She ran up to him just as a medic picked up the little girl he had carried out. Almost knocking him off his feet, Barbara wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Glad to see you too, beautiful," he laughed, but quickly winced. Barbara pulled back and saw why; at some point, Hood had taken off his jacket to protect the girl. His armor was torn up and his left arm was burned bad. That also happened to be when she realized three groups had just arrived — child services, the GPD and Gotham News Tonight. And cameras were rolling.

"Shit," she muttered. "Come on, 'Hoodie' — we've got to get out of here before you get arrested.'" She threw down her last smoke pellet and moved Hood into the alley with their bikes. "We need a place to clean you up."

"56th and Hanger," he coughed. Yeah, no way he's riding his own bike, Barbara thought as she got him onto the back of hers.

"Hold on tight," she said before realizing that meant hold onto _her_. "I mean, there's no way I'm picking your ass off the asphalt if you fall off."

"I knew you cared," he teased as she revved the engine and got them on the road.

* * *

"Ow!" Hood yelped as Barbara got him through the sixth story window and dropped him onto the couch, "You're being too rough!"

"You're an idiot," Barbara noted, standing up and gesturing to his singed clothes, "and you need to tell me where you keep your bandages."

"In the freezer."

She stared down at him.

"The freezer's broken," he said.

"Oh, well that explains it," she rolled her eyes and walked to the kitchenette. The apartment should have been condemned. The wall paper was peeling and there were multiple holes in the drywall. She got why he kept the first aid kit (along with two guns and a crapton of ammo) in the freezer — even if the fridge did work, you'd never want to prepare food in this place. Hell, as she put a washcloth under the faucet, she could see a family of cockroaches hanging out on the counter. She was about to tell him this as she got back into the living room, but she got a little distracted. Because while she had been searching for supplies, he had removed his ripped up shirt.

And even with that stupid helmet still on, he looked really good shirtless.

"Everything OK?" Hood asked, lying back with his right arm slung above his head. It was like he didn't know he had an underwear model's torso. And arms. And probably ass.

"Yep," Barbara nodded, but her feet didn't seem to want to move. Why did all the guys she worked with have to be so damn attractive?

"Do you mind patching me up before my arm starts festering?"

"Oh shut up," she snapped out of her stupor and got down on her knees by his left arm, taking off her gloves. She pressed the wet towel on Hood's arm, making him wince and pull away.

"Hold still," she ordered.

"It hurts," he whined.

"Yeah, second degree burns will do that to you. But this is going to stop that festering you were complaining about, so hold still." She worked in silence for a while, trying to focus on sterilizing the wound despite their less than sterile surroundings while avoiding eyeing that happy trail of hair peeking out from his pants down to his—

"You were pretty incredible tonight," she cut the silence.

"So were you, Batsie," he asked, hissing a little at the end while she started to wrap the gauze round his bicep. "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"I guess?" she said as she finished the bandage.

"What did you tell the girls to get them to trust me?"

She stopped for a second, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I told them you were a brave hero. That you were a friend." She got the courage to look back up and Hood was just staring at her, that helmet still hiding so much.

"You know," she said with frustration, "just once I wish I knew what you were really thinking, Hood."

"I was thinking … you're amazing."

"Shut up," she waved him off immediately.

"Batsie," he held her hand, "if we're going to partners, then you're going to have to get used to me giving you the praise you deserve. You. Are. Amazing."

He was leaning into the touch. She didn't know what that meant and it kind of terrified her. But that's when she remembered.

"Shit," she slumped back down, her head in her hands, "We still don't know where Sonya is and our only lead went cold. What the hell are we going to do?"

"Batgirl," he tilted her chin so they were eye-to-eye, "You saved twelve girls from becoming sex slaves. You did good." She looked back up at him with tired eyes, but he shook his head and sat up. "Get up here."

"Why?" she asked even as she got off the floor and sat next to him.

"You need to relax and I happen to have a solution," he unhooked her caped and put it to the side before moving to the far end of the couch. "Lie on your stomach."

She did what she said, settling on the sofa with her forearms as her pillow. Hood moved so he was kneeling on either side of her hip and … and that's when he put his hands on her shoulders. On instinct she tensed up. Everything in her brain told her this was a bad idea, but she quickly relaxed under his palms as they kneaded her muscles through her suit.

"Ugh," she breathed out a minute later, "that feels … amazing, actually."

"I thought you'd like it," Hood chucked, but then cleared his throat. "You know, it's kind of hard to feel the massage through the suit. Maybe we should unzip you."

Barbara's heart skipped a little. His voice tried to stay casual but there was a darkness under the surface and she knew very well where this could all lead. _This is a bad idea, this is the worst idea—_

"OK," she said an octave higher than she expected before adding, "The cowl stays on, though."

"Understood."

"And my bra," she quickly added.

"Whatever you say, beautiful."

She felt him move the zipper achingly slow down her back; Barbara lifted herself up to pull her arms out of the sleeves. The top of the suit fell to her waist, leaving her with only her cowl and her bra. As soon as her chest hit the cushion, Hood's hands were back on her. And god, were his hands on her. She sighed contently as his ministrations moved down her back. She didn't realize how much she needed this. How long had it been since a man touched her like this? Too long. Far too long.

"Still doing ok?" Hood asked as his thumbs dug deliciously into a knot on her shoulder. Barbara just nodded and hummed.

"Good. And you know," his palms stroked down her spine, "regular massage sessions is just another perk of becoming my full-time partner."

"It's a pretty good selling point, Hood," she smiled with her eyes still closed, "Do Annika's girls get the same benefits?"

"I don't know," he said playfully, "do you want to have the same—" His hands stopped. "Is … is this it?" he asked, his bare thumb rubbing a spot on her lower back.  
"Is this what?" she asked dreamily.  
"Where you were shot?"  
She realized he was touching the scar just to the left side of her spine.  
"Yeah," she said softly, "That's it."  
"I'm so sorry," he whispered.

"It's ok," she said as casually as she could, "It went clean through." Without a word, his hands left her — Barbara half wondered if he was just too creeped out by all the scars lining her back.

"Hood? Are you—"

"Just," he said with a clearer voice than normal, "don't open your eyes." She was about to ask why when she felt a pair of lips on her lower back, right on her scar. The soft, tentative touch was like electricity shooting right to her core. She instantly arched her back towards the sensation.

"Hooood," she moaned a little, not even sure if she was telling him to stop or to keep going. He moaned back in response as his mouth moved up her back.

"Hood, this … isn't a good idea," she tried again, more to convince herself than him.

"Please," he said desperately, his stubble scratching against her skin, "Let me make you feel good. Just tell me you want this." His voice was so sweet despite the rough edge. She ached for him and his plea only made it harder for her to say no. She could feel his smile pressed against her as she nodded her head.

"Good," he said as she twitched from his hair tickling her skin, "Now stay still."

And she tried to stay to stay still. She really did. But his mouth was perfect. She wanted him to kiss ever part of her — so, so badly. And when his mouth traveled up to her shoulder and she could feel his warm chest pressing against her back and his hands started exploring her sides, she couldn't help but squirm underneath him. And the squirming led to her ass brushing against his jeans, eliciting the best groan into her shoulder and a little hip thrust back at her. And the breath on her skin was the first real evidence that Hood wasn't a ghost — he was flesh and blood and he _wanted_ her.

One hand found its way to her breast, pinching and twisting at her nipple through the fabric of her bra — his other hand slipped between her legs, into her underpants, and she moaned into the cushion.

_When was the last time you were fucked?_ echoed in her head. God, she wanted this. She needed this. She couldn't wait anymore. She bucked against him, practically inviting him to rip off her suit and take her right there. He groaned his consent and she felt his hands move down to fumble with the buckle of his pants.

As his hands moved to her hip to rid her of the suit completely, he panted, "_Fuck_, I've wanted this for so long, Barbara," into her ear.

And Barbara's eyes snapped open.

* * *

_Russian dialogue translation:_

_Can you understand what I'm saying?" _

_"Where are you from?"_

_"Moscow."_

_"We are Batgirl and Red Hood. We're friends of Batman."_

_"Are you Batman's daughter?"_

_"Yes, I am. And Red Hood is a brave hero, too. We help you get to your parents. But you must come with us and be very quiet, OK?"_


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own DC Comics. I'm pretty sure the world would be a better place if I did.

* * *

"Fuck, I've wanted this for so long, Barbara."

Barbara's eyes snapped open. The next 30 seconds were a blur as she elbowed him in the chest hard and struggled to get out from under him. She must have surprised him, because she quickly got him on the floor pinned underneath her. She handcuffed him to the radiator.

"How do you know my name?!" Barbara snarled.

He didn't answer; that gave her time to look at him sans helmet. He had a domino mask on, but she could tell he was handsome. Stupidly handsome actually, because she was mad as hell and didn't want to think about his jawline or stubble or the white tuff in his hair that she just wanted to comb her hand through.

He still wasn't talking and Barbara was tired of waiting. Hood let out a cry as her hand pressed down on his wound.

"How … do you know … my name?" she repeated.

"I … can explain," he coughed out.

"Yeah, I'm sure you can. Just like you can explain how you found me the other night?" she got angrier with coming word, "How you just happened to want to help me with my case?"

He didn't say anything, his eye line falling down to her chest. Which was when she remembered she still had her suit unzipped with only her bra covering her. She couldn't leap off of him fast enough.

"What was all this?" she snapped as she zipped herself up, "You promised to help me so you could lure me off my team? Got close to me to distract me from my job?"

"That's not—"

"Or maybe you were just trying to get me into bed — get into naive, prudish little Batgirl's panties for kicks."

"Jesus, Barbie—"

"NO!" she cried, her finger pointing at his chest, "You do _not_ get to use that name!" Tears welled in her eyes as she turned towards the window.

"Batgirl, please!" he called out. She was already gone.

Barbara really couldn't get away fast enough. Weaving though cars left and right, she just wanted her bike to get her to her apartment. Too many thoughts were rushing through her head. Too many memories in this city.

_"Come on, Barbie!" he said, pointing to the spotlight five buildings away, "Last one to the batsignal gives the other a kiss!"_

_She huffed and put her hand on her hip. "That sounds like a win-win scenario for you, Perv Wonder."_

_"Does that mean you won't race me?" The 14 year-old bounced on his heels. As the older one at 17, Barbara knew she shouldn't, but…_

_"No kiss, OK? On my mark." She caught him smirking out of the corner of her eye as she got into position._

* * *

_"Dickie isn't coming to visit this weekend?" He leaned against the console dash._

_"No," she kept her eyes on the screen, "he's … really busy in Bludhaven."_

_"So you two are still—"_

_"Dating," she said edgily, "yes we are."_

_He didn't leave. "But…"_

_She sighed. "But long distance relationships are difficult. We're working through it."_

_"He's lucky to have you, Barbara."_

_She finally looked up at him. Somewhere between 14 and 15 he caught up to her in height; it was strange to see him so tall._

_"Thanks," she finally said._

_"Well," he pushed himself off the dash with his hip, "if you never need to trade up, I'm always here."_

_"In your dreams, Jaybird," she smirked._

_"Oh trust me, you're in there, too."_

_She slugged him in the arm hard._

_"What can I say, Barbie," he shrugged with a smile and rubbed his now sore arm, "You're my dream girl."_

* * *

_Everything was going to be okay. Everything was going to be okay. As her bike sped past Wayne Corp and followed the Batmobile toward the industrial district, she keep chanting it in her head. The freezing night and falling snow bit at her skin even though her suit, but she didn't care. We know where they took him, she thought. We know where he is. Maybe a few cuts, some broken bones, but they'd get him back to the cave. Hell, she'd even patch him up herself. And he's sure to make a crack about me being a sexy nurse, she thought as the warehouse came into view. Everything was going to be —_

_She was blinded by the explosion, crashing hard onto the patch of snowy ground in front of the warehouse. Disoriented, she willed herself up, staggering towards the blurry but overwhelming light in front of her. Still dazed, she could see a silhouette move from the burning building. Her eyes finally focused and she saw what Bruce was carrying in his arms._

_"Bruce!" she shouted as she ran towards them, "We need to get him—" But the look on Bruce's face said it all._

_"No," she whispered, "No no no." As Bruce walked past her to place the limp body in the Batmobile, all Barbara could do was fall to her knees and cry._

The second she got through the window into her apartment, Barbara shot for the bathroom. Stepping in the shower and lathering up, all she wanted was to clean the whole night off of her. The problem was, between being pressed against the wall the night before and what had happened in the last hour, she ached to slip her fingers between her legs and give herself release. But she knew that if she touched herself, she would imagine Hood touching her instead. And she refused to let him into her mind after what had happened. She focused instead on massaging her scalp and letting the hot water soothe her tense muscles. It wasn't her fault that her hands moved down to her breasts. She closed her eyes and leaned against the wall as her left hand sloped down and hit … her scar. The scar.

Oh god, she told him about getting shot. He was the one who suggested they both open up and she blurted everything out. About her months in treatment. About how the attack was to meant to hurt her loved ones. About where she was hit. She gave away one of the most distinct aspects of her alias and if that wasn't what told Hood who she was, it at least confirmed it. Her mind flashed to everyone she put in danger because of this man — Bruce, Dick, Tim, her dad. She was reckless and stupid and trusted a stranger. And why? Why did she trust him so quickly? Even as she turned off the taps and grabbed her towel from the hook, Barbara didn't have a good answer for herself.

It felt good to get into clean clothes, the cotton tank and shorts making ideal pajamas on that warm summer night. She started to dry her hair when her cell rang from the other room.

She rushed to grab it, but still made sure it was her real cell and not the pre-paid one before she answered.

"Hey Babs."

"Hey Boy Wonder," she smiled. If there was one person she was okay with hearing from now, it was Dick Grayson. She looked at the clock in her kitchen. "You're up late."

"Just got off patrol. The costumed one," he added.

"Got it," she yawned and reached for a glass from her cabinet, "So how's Kory? Still on location?"

"She got back yesterday. In fact, she told me today to tell you just how much she misses you."

"Well," she said, "you better tell her I miss her, too."

"Actually," he said, "she wants to invite you to hang out at the pool in the next couple weeks. Which means she wants to take you shopping for a new bikini."

"Well of course she does," Barbara laughed — it died quickly when she realized that— "You're not calling me at 1:30 in the morning to set up a girl's day out, are you?"

His end went silent for a moment.

"Dick…" she said, slightly irked.

"… Okay, Alfred called me this morning."

Barbara sighed as she put her glass under the running tap. "Of course he did. And I bet he told you all about the Rameriez case and how Bruce and Tim are out of town, right?"

"He might have mentioned it," Dick continued, "I just wanted to see how it's going."

"It's … going," she took a sip of water.

"Well, is there anything I could do to help with your case? Kory's already offered to take over the Bludhaven patrol for the next few days if you want a partner."

Her body stiffened at the last word — she had hoped her mind could just turn off for a little while and forget about Hood. Of course it wasn't that easy. And now she really was on her own with the case. No leads. No clues. No partner. She knew she could use all the help she could get.

"It's OK," she finally answered with false cheerfulness, "I've got it under control."

"… Something's wrong."

"No," she kept her voice steady, "I only have some dots to connect here and there — it just isn't worth it for you to make the trip into town. I've got it covered. But … thanks for offering. Really."

"Okay," he said unconvinced, "Look Babs … if you do need anything, give me a call. You can always count on me."

She smiled again. "That's a given, Grayson."

"Love me?"

"Love you. Night." There was a soft clatter in the living room that caught her attention as she was hanging up. Barbara grabbed a spare batarang from the kitchen drawer and snuck around the corner only to find a pair of handcuffs in the middle of her carpet. Her eyes moved up to the fire escape to—

"You're going to have to use better handcuffs next time."

"What do you want, Hood?" She said bitterly as she crossed her arms.

"I want to talk to you. To explain." Hood had his helmet off and in the crook of his arm, but the domino mask was still in place. It was still odd to hear his voice be so clear.

"Explain what, exactly? Explain how you know my name? Why you know my name?"

"Yes," he said as his feet stepped onto the carpet.

"I didn't say you could come in," she snapped.

He sighed. "Can I please come in? We should talk."

She looked at him and considered telling him to get the hell out and never speak to her again. "Take off your shoes already."

"You're not hiding your face," he said as he set his helmet down and did what he was told.

"Well, you know my name," she kept her arms crossed, "You know where I live. I guess it doesn't matter if you know what I look like, does it?"

"I can explain."

"You know, you keep saying that and yet I'm not hearing your explanation."

Hood put his fingers through his messy white-tuffed and black hair (Barbara ignored the ache in her throat), and exhaled.

"Okay, this is _not_ how I planned this to go down, so can I just preface by saying that I think you're beautiful?"

"Oh, don't try flattery," she glared at him, "How stupid do you think I am?"

"No, what I mean is—_ugh_!" Hood rubbed his face with this hands, "Okay,okayokayokay. Starting this over." He looked up at her again. "What I mean is, everything I've said about what I think of you is true. How you're strong and smart and … other things.

"And OK," he continued, "I did follow you the other night. I'm not working for anyone, I just … wanted to talk to you. Without the others hovering nearby."

Her eyes narrowed. "You've been stalking me."

"No..t exactly," he rubbed his neck, "See … I kind of know you already."

She stopped. She knew something was familiar about his face and even his voice, but …

"Hood," she threw down her hands, "who _are_ you? If you didn't do all this to hurt me, then you need to tell me who you are." His face still down, he looked at her and bit his lip — she did everything in her power not to lick her lips in response.

"First tell me why you got upset when I called you Barbie."

"No more games, Hood," she said, "Answer my question already."

"I will, just … please," he pleaded, "Tell me why you were upset."

_Just tell him_, she thought, _tell him so you can get this over with and get on with your life._

"Only one person ever got to call me that. And he's dead."

"And," he took a step towards her, his lips just inches from hers, "You cared about him?"

Her knees felt weak at their almost contact, but she wouldn't let him see her swoon. "Yes," she met his gaze defiantly, "he was one of the bravest people I've ever known."

He exhaled softly, his mouth curling into a smirk. "Okay then." And really, Barbara should have known by the smirk alone, but really it was so out of the realm of logical possibility. Then Hood stepped back, pulled back his mask and there were those dark turquoise eyes that she saw shine through his helmet just a few days before. The pieces only started clicking together once she looked from his eyes to his cocky smirk to the faint scar on his chin back to his eyes and …

"Oh my god," she whispered.

"Hi, Barbie," Jason said.

"Oh my god," she repeated. Jason Todd was standing in her living room. He was standing in her living room and he was alive. He was standing in her living room and he was alive and he was Red Hood — and that was when her jaw clenched.

"You have no idea," he said as she moved toward him, "how good it feels to—"

Barbara socked him right in the jaw, his body stumbling back before hitting the opposite wall.

"What was _that_ for?!" He rubbed his face.

"_You're alive?!_" she charged forward, "You've been alive all this time and you never came home?!" She swung and he zipped to her side, narrowly avoiding another blow. He smartly put his arms up in defense.

"It's not that simple, Babsie."

"Don't you 'Babsie' me!" she stalked after him as he moved across the room. "We were all a wreck after you died. I cried for days! Days!"

"You—you cried for me?" He dared to smile, which only made Barbara want to smack him more.

"Forget the four years since you left," she said, "Forget the months you've been back in Gotham. We've been working with each other all week! You couldn't have taken a few seconds to tell me!?"

"Bar—"

"'I. Am. Jason. Todd.'" She counted each word on her fingers. "There, four words!"

"Barb—"

"Three if you used the contraction!"

"You think it was easy for me to hide this from you?!" he raised his voice and stepped towards her. His eyes pierced her own and his shoulders were broad and for the first time it really hit her how good puberty was to Jason Todd. _Watch it, Gordon!_ She shouted in her head. _Stay focused!_

"Yeah, I bet it was real hard for you to keep the facade while you were using the worst pick up lines to get in my pants."

"What pick up lines?!"

"Please," she rolled her eyes, "'I think you're amazing'? 'You could light the sky on fire'?"

"Those weren't lines! Those were— and besides, don't pretend you didn't like it. I know firsthand how wet you were for me tonight."

"Don't flatter yourself," she tried to stand her ground, but her knees were weak. He needed to stop being so good looking.

"You're such a bad liar, Barbie," he sneered, getting right back in her face.

"Shut up," she snapped, her blood boiling.

"Moaning under me," he cooed, "rubbing your perfect little ass against me — you practically _begged_ me to get you off."

Barbara burned into him and was ready to punch his lights out. She pulled her fist back and … wrapped her arms around his neck. She squeezed her eyes shut as they began to water. Shocked, his arms found their way tight around her waist.

"Oh Barbie," she heard Jason sigh sadly, "I'm sorry. I… I didn't mean it. Please … please don't cry."

"It's not that," she said still holding him tight, "I … I'm just really glad you're alive."

His laugh rumbled through her. "Me too."

"I missed you, Jay," she said.

He pulled back to look at her. "I missed you …" he paused as his eyes flitted down, "too."

It was then that Barbara remembered what she had put on for bed on this warm summer night: a pair of bright green short shorts, a low cut gray tank top and nothing else.

"Jay," she said, trying to not to sound as terrified as she felt.

"Barbara," he said her name like a sigh, "You're so beautiful." His fingers were tentatively skimming her waist. When she didn't protest, his left hand crept to the curve of her lower back and his right moved up and cupped her through the shirt. Goosebumps spread up her arms and she closed her eyes. It felt natural to lean in as he felt the weight of her breast, thumbing her nipple until it grew hard and pressed against the cotton.

She wasn't expecting him to kiss her, especially not in the way he did — soft and tender. With her eyes closed, she focused in on the light taste of cigarettes and beer on his mouth, the touch of his hand leaving her back and caressing her cheek. It was barely a whisper on her lips; it set her insides on fire.

"If you tell me to stop, I will," he whispered, his breath warm on her lips, "But I want you. Christ, I want you so bad. Just tell me what you want and I'll do it." She opened her eyes and looked at him. He gazed back at her and it was striking how unafraid he was. And he was so sexy. Unfairly so. Before she could talk herself out of it, she slowly leaned in and, half ashamed, whispered into his ear.

"I want you to fuck me, Jason."

The next thing Barbara knew, her back was against the wall. She had enough time to see a flash of his eyes before he kissed her hard on the lips. It was different now — firm and hot and hungry. _Damn, I could have been doing this hours ago_, she thought as her tongue slipped into his mouth, causing him to growl. Continuing the kiss down the hallway, Barbara blindly slid his jacket off his shoulders onto the floor. As soon they passed the doorway to her room, Jason pushed her on the bed, making her bounce on the mattress for a moment before swooping down over her. One hand grabbed the flesh of her upper thigh and the other went to her waist before slipping under her top. She inhaled sharply as he found her breast, rolling her nipple in between his fingers.

"_Yessss_," she hissed, clawing at his back as his mouth made its way to her neck and started sucking. "Please Jason."

"Say it again," he muttered.

"Please," she repeated.

"No," he said against her skin, "Say my name." He bucked against her, his cock rubbing against her through the fabric of his pants.

"Jason," she gasped and held onto the back of his head to keep his mouth in place.

"Again."

"Jason," she cried out again, wrapping both thighs on his hips and grinding against him. She was on the verge of a sigh when Jason twisted her nipple. Her eyes shot open; her hand snatched his wrist from under the shirt and she flipped him so he was pinned below her.

"Don't do that again," she gritted.

"God you're hot," he grinned before grabbing the back of her neck and bringing her down for a kiss. It was all lips and tongues and hands, shirts were torn with blatant abandon (revealing those abs she'd been so drawn to earlier in the night) and Babs' hands were about to take off Jason's pants, but his mouth tightly sucking on her nipple drove away all other brain functions.

"Jason," she moaned, her hands gripping his hair to keep him in place.

"I will never," he said against her breast, "ever get tired of you saying that." He slipped his hand down the back of her shorts and didn't stop until he reached her core.

"Fuck, you're so wet, Barbara," his mouth moved up to her ear as he slipped in a finger.

"Yes," she cried and rocked her hips. She continued fucking his hand, arching her back to give him a better angle, rubbing her clit against his hard-on. She started rocking faster, enjoying the control until she felt his fingers leave her so he could throw her back on the mattress. Kneeing on the far end of the bed, Jason rid her of her shorts (drenched) in one quick pull and unbuttoned his jeans. While he pushed off his pants and underwear, his eyes never left her finally naked body. The more he looked, the wider his grin.

"Tell me what you want," he said darkly.

Shaking with anticipation, she said, "I want you to fuck me."

He pounced on her suddenly, wildly and once he entered her it was all instinct. Eyes squeezed shut with concentration, she was aware of every touch, every frenzied thrust and every blessed muscle twitch. She reveled in how he filled her, how his neck tasted and how her hands could feel his pert ass flex with every push. He chanted her name, she chanted a mix of "oh god," and "yes," and ever so softly- "_Jason._" With one last hard thrust, they found their release together, Jay groaning as Barbara bit his shoulder.

He sagged on top of her, their foreheads touching as they tried to catch their breaths. His eyes still closed and his cock still inside her, Jason grinned.

"See Batsie," he chuckled through the panting, "I told you we'd make great partners."


	7. Chapter 7

I don't own DC Comics. Obviously.

* * *

"See Batsie," he chuckled, still panting lightly. "I told you we'd make great partners." Barbara smiled back, her breasts pressing against his chest with every hard breath in. Fixated on the faint scars from a thousand fights decorating his toned shoulders and arms, she couldn't help but be a little smug about having him on top of her. Really. He was gorgeous.

"You're a real charmer, you know that?" she said, holding back the tremble in her throat. He didn't seem to notice.

"It's my superpower," he grinned, pulling her closer, "That and giving beautiful women intense, heavenly orgasms."

Barbara giggled, arching her back so her torso touched every bit of his. Taking that as an invitation, his arms found their way to the space between around her lower back, holding her firmly to him as they rolled playfully on the mattress. He dotted her with kisses — her neck, her chest, the precious little crook of her shoulder. She knew the moment was probably just post-orgasm bliss, but it had been so freaking long since she had sex with anyone and this had been such good sex and now his smile was on her own as they alternated laughing and kissing. She really needed to do this more often.

"Stop it!" she finally got out in a giggle as his hands roamed to her ass and he started nibbling her ear. He just wouldn't stop finding new places to put his mouth and each discovery elicited a gasp from her lips. "You really — you must've missed me a lot."

He pulled back to look at her, the laughter faded to a soft smile just a whisper from her lips.

"I did. I thought about you all the time." He caressed her cheek and the playful mood turn instantly to tender and intimate. Suddenly he went from the Red Hood, object of her lust, to … Jason Todd. Sweet, silly Jason Todd.

* * *

_"So Dick is definitely coming this weekend?" Jason asked._

_Barbara smiled as she resupplied her utility belt. "He promised. And he's staying for Christmas next week. Alfred even let it slip that Dick reserved a table at Enzo's for Saturday."_

_"You don't say." There was an awkward silence; Barbara looked up._

_"Have something to add, Todd?"_

_"No," Jason shrugged, "I just don't want Grayson to be hurt when I sweep you off your feet."_

_"Yeah right," she rolled her eyes as she stood and put on her belt, but Jason snatched up her hand, bringing it to his cheek._

_"You know I only have a year until I'm legal."_

_"And there'll still be a three year age difference, Jason."_

_"Age is just a number, Gordon," he purred. "You can't deny I'm getting taller … filling out."_

_"Oh, you're definitely full of something," she said, but didn't protest when he kissed her hand._

_"One day, Barbie," he said dramatically, "I'm going to be too handsome for you to resist." He seemed to have perfected that flirty smile he had been practicing since he was 13. Not that she really minded — the flirting was just part of their dynamic as partners._

_"You know," she teased, finding his crush more than a little endearing, "Dick might try to fight you for my honor." "I'd like to see him try. Hey, you know what I really want for Christmas?" he asked._

_"I can't imagine," she said with another eye roll. She could tell he had a quip prepared, but he was interrupted._

_"We're going," Bruce said as he came from the stairs (Barbara pulled her hand back fast). "Police scanner says Joker is hitting up the Third Bank of Gotham. Barbara's taking the cycle and Jason, you're with me."_

_"Got it," he nodded and turned back to her slyly. "Let's continue this discussion over a late dinner tonight."_

_"Sure," Barbara laughed and got on her bike, "Why not." She didn't have the heart to tell him that dinner probably meant pizza at 4 am … but then again, that sounded right up his alley. As she put on her helmet, she could help but notice him flash her a grin before jumping into the Batmobile._

* * *

"What's wrong?" Jason's voice quickly snapped her back to reality. Jason. Jason was here. He had pulled back to look at her.

Looking into his eyes, a memory hit her — sitting at the Wayne Manor kitchen late at night, trying to steady her hand enough to hold a cup of tea while she heard Alfred begin to make funeral arrangements in the next room. Just thinking about it hurt as if she was still there.

"Barbie, you okay?"

Barbara jumped on top of him, wrapping her arms around his neck and taking his mouth to her own. A very surprised Jason took a moment to find his bearings, soon humming his contentment as his hands found their way to her shoulder blade and ass so his body enveloped hers. For her part, Barbara just wanted to savor him, to touch him and prove to herself that yes, he was alive. The pressure in her core built up again as their kiss became frenzied and their hips began to rock in time, his cock hardening again against her thigh. She started panting as he buried his face in her neck and started sucking.

"Barbieee," he managed to moan against her skin.

"Jason," she whined softly, concentrating on how his fingers were tracing her pelvis and the ever growing hardness between his legs. Senses heightened, she was just now aware of the rain hitting her window and for a fleeting instant she saw it — the rain on his casket as it was lowered into the grave.

"Wait." She pushed his chest back.

"No more waiting," he countered intently, moving his mouth back to hers for a sizzling kiss. It took a few seconds of contentment before Barbara's brain snapped back.

"Jason … _Jason_," she stressed, pressed her hand on his chest again.

"What's wrong, Barbara? Don't you like it?" He looked truly wounded.

"No, I like it, it's just … what happened to you, Jay?" Her voice cracked a little at his name as she looked back down to him. "I mean I was there — I saw Bruce carry out your body. How did you survive the explosion?"

He sighed, running his hands through his hair as he rolled to his back and looked straight up to the ceiling. He closed his eyes in concentration before speaking again.

"I didn't."

She blinked. "What?"

"I didn't survive," he kept his eyes shut, "You did see Bruce carrying out my corpse. I died."

"But—"

"Think about it, Barbara." He looked into her eyes with and it clicked.

"The Lazarus Pit," she gritted.

"Yep," he confirmed, putting extra emphasis on the "p." "Good ole Ra's and Talia felt bad about their falling out with Daddy Bats. Thought bringing back his son would patch things up."

"But why didn't you come back to us?" she asked softly. He rubbed a fist across his eyes, trying to hide the unpleasant feelings that were starting to surface.

"Because … my brain needed a few years to reboot," he said bitterly. "And by that time, I don't think Ra's felt I was a very good gift for the Great Detective anymore."

"So what, you're working for him now?"

"What?" he snapped up to face her, "No! I escaped. Jesus, how could you think I'd work for those douchebags?"

"Jason, you've _killed_ people," she glared at him, "You're practically a minor crime lord in this city. You're doing what the League of Shadows does."

"Yeah, except I made the city better. I'm doing better than Ra's or the police or he ever could."

"Just because you're helping prostitutes—"

"Don't you _dare_ say it like they're lesser than you."

"I'm not! But one good deed doesn't justify murder!"

"Right," he scoffed, "Unlike Bruce and that moral code he just can't break. Even for the murder of his son. If I even was his goddamn son."

"How—how could you say that?" she asked.

"I was _replaced_," he said before looking away, "I've seen that scrawny kid with my symbol. All perky and shit. Yeah, I'm sure Bruce really missed me."

"Stop it," she snapped, "You have no idea what it was like after we lost you. Bruce didn't talk to us for weeks."

Jason looked back at her, dead serious. "Then why didn't Bruce hunt him down?"

"Jay," she struggled to find the words, "…you know the answer to that."

He stared at her before shaking her head. "Yeah, of course I do." He stood up.

"Where are you going!" she shouted, her anger building back up.

"I'm going to … I'll be back!" he said harshly as he snatched up his boxer briefs.

Even when she was pissed at him (and she was), Barbara couldn't help but watch him storm out of the room butt naked. She licked her lips instinctively and as soon as he was out of sight, and the next miserable second-it hit her. She just had what could've been the best sex of her life — and it was with Jason fucking Todd.

Jason was alive and she had sex with him – like, a minute ago. There was a nagging voice in the back of her mind telling her just how sick she must've been. Jesus, the last time she saw Jason, he was only 15 — his voice still cracked and he didn't even have his driver's license. And yet she pulled him into bed not 10 minutes after learning he was alive. She didn't even think to grab a condom before ripping off his clothes and begging him to sink inside her.

She could tell herself that she had still been lusting after Red Hood, that Hood's several attempts to seduce her were the driving force of her actions. But she'd be lying — Barbara had sex with Jason Todd because she wanted to have sex with Jason Todd. Maybe she wanted him all along. Maybe all their teenage flirting had just been leading up to this. And despite him acting like an ass (case and point: he'd just stormed out of her bedroom). And yeah, she found him infuriating more often than not, but there was a big part of her aching for the next time he'd take her. Damn it.

Her mind briefly flitted back to his hands on her, to the feeling of him inside her, but her imagination was cut short when she heard a crash, followed by a grunt somewhere outside her room. Grabbing her spare batarangs and her satin robe, she ran out expecting a fight in the living room —and found no one. The only sign of life was the groan coming from the bathroom.

Turning on the light, Barbara discovered the entire shower curtain had fallen down — she could only tell Jason was the cause by his feet sticking out and a muffled "_SON OF A BITCH._"

"Are you okay?" she rushed over to him, pulling the curtain off of his head and quickly casting it aside.

"Oh yeah, I'm swell," he rubbed the back of his head.

"What the hell were you doing?" she snapped.

"Well, I was _trying_ to pee. Obviously that didn't work. Your floor is wet, by the way." She tried not to get frustrated … he might have snapped her curtain rod in two, but he was also injured.

"Hold on, I'll be back," she offered as she went for an icepack. She made the trip to the kitchen and back as quickly as she could, only to find a pouting Jason Todd still sitting on the bathroom floor. Half naked, of course. Of course. _Focus, Gordon._

"You escaped a burning building but you can't get out of a shower curtain?" she asked as she pressed the icepack to his head and avoided looking any lower than his face.

"A better question," he said, gingerly pulling himself up to sit on the toilet seat, "is what do you think you're doing in _that_?"

"What?" she asked hesitantly. His hand tugged at the messy tie of the robe, eyes flitting to her chest and then up to her eyes.

"You know I've already seen your breasts by now," he murmured. "I know how gorgeous they are — it's a shame to hide them."

Barbara stared down at him for a moment before smirking, rolling her eyes and untying the belt. With a shrug, the robe slipped off her shoulder and fell to the floor — she felt a strange pride seeing his pupils dilate at the sight of her.

"I've wanted to see you like this for so long," he muttered.

"A-and?" she smiled and hoped to god she wasn't blushing.

"So, so worth the wait," he said. Jason rose slowly, reaching for Barbara's waist and pressing himself softly against her. Her ass pushing against the edge of the counter, her eyes fluttered shut as his hands crept to her lower back, his fingers tracing her spine. She sighed lightly as she felt his cheek brushing hers, his lips almost grazing her shoulder.

"So I take it you're not mad anymore?" she grinned and played with the elastic on his underwear. He hummed and tapped his finger against her back in thought.

"As long as you do something for me," he cooed.

"Mmm, and what's that?" she asked dreamily. He pressed his lips to her neck in a soft kiss before whispering his response.

"Tell me who shot you." Silence fell as Barbara tensed. She maneuvered quickly away from the sink, practically pushing herself out of his arms.

"Couldn't we have just kept kissing?" she said testily, snatching up her robe to put it back on.

"You didn't answer the question," he retorted, following her into the living room.

"I … don't see how that's relevant." She flitted over to the couch, as if tidying up an unfolded afghan was going to distract her.

"I want to know. Why, for starters. To get to your dad?" She didn't reply.

"So that's a yes. Was it the mob? Or Harvey? Or …" His voice trailed away as a spark of a thought flicked in his eye. "No," he whispered, voice turning dark. She turned her head away. He was upon her in an instant, close once more, his hand tilting up her chin so she looked him in the eye. "Barbara, tell me it wasn't—"

Something behind his eyes burned like hot coals. Barbara could only look in his eyes for only a second – that was all she could handle before her gaze flickered down. There was his confirmation.

"Of _course_ it was," he said bitterly.

"Jay—"

"No, of course it had to be him," he paced across the floor, his voice rising, "It wasn't enough for him to beat me to a pulp. It wasn't enough for him to rip my life from me and take me away from everyone I ever loved. No, he just had to go after you, too."

"Jay," she said quietly, "It's over. He hasn't been seen since that night."

"But don't you _get it_?" he continued. "Don't you see why I do what I do? If Bruce had the balls to kill that monster after what he did to me, you would never have…"

Jason turned back and of course he had to finally look at her just as the tears were welling. His eyes darted across her face before sighing.

"Oh hell," he managed before swooping down for a kiss, one somehow gentle and intense at the same time. She was pretty sure it was more from exhaustion than the romance of the moment, but Barbara's legs went weak.

"Whoa," Jason kept her up right as she braced his forearms, "I've got you." Wasting no time, he scooped her up in his arms and moved them out of the living room. It was then she remembered what she was planning to do before he came through the window.

"No," she murmured into his chest, "I need to stay up. I have research to do. Sonya…"

"Tomorrow, Barbie. We'll do it all tomorrow. I promise."

The last thing she remembered was being placed in her bed and the feeling of Jason and the blanket embracing her before she drifted off to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

I don't own DC Comics.

* * *

It was always a little funny to Barbara how quiet things were after she went through one of her many near death experiences. She nearly suffocated to death the night before (after almost getting shot), but as she rode the elevator back to her apartment after her freelance work — updating the Gotham Police Department's computer networks — everything seemed so normal out in the world.

But really, what was normal anymore? Less than 24 hours before she made love to one of her closest friends … who had been brought back from the dead by mystical forces and now demanded revenge for his own murder. She kept saying it in her head … she made love to Jason and she adored every moment of it. She made love to Jason and she didn't feel guilty about it. She made love to Jason and she wanted to do it again.

But they didn't exactly have time to talk over those specifics in the morning. Exhausted from all of their activities from the night before, she woke up late. She left for the GPD, he left to go do "work" … and she decided it was better not to ask how legal that work was.

But she didn't have time to figure out what was going on with her and Jason. Sonya was still missing, Talon was still out there — it was time for her to really get to work. Just as she fixed her evening tea and set down the files on Talon she just _happened_ to grab from the GPD, her cell rang — it was a call from the manor.

"Hey Alfred," she said as she adjusted the phone on her shoulder, "is everything alright?"

"Miss Gordon," he started, "I'm not sure how to put this. I believe you'd want to see last night's news report."

"Something to do with the Marcottis?"

"… In a sense. I'm sending you the video now."

"Um, okay thanks." Hanging up, Barbara clicked the email and took a sip of her tea just in time to hear:

"Her allies include heroes like Nightwing and Robin," Vicki Vale said in voice-over, "but has Batgirl fallen for a bad boy?"

The tea went all over her files as she did a cartoon-esque spittake. _What the flying hell—_

"Just over an hour ago, Gotham News Tonight arrived at the scene of a warehouse fire off the Port Adams docks, only to see the city's straight-laced young heroine run into the arms of the deadly vigilante calling himself Red Hood."

As she watched the footage of Jason rushing out of the building and her hugging him in relief, Barbara's grip on her mug tightened while her urge to kill rose.

"As it turns out," Vale continued, "This wasn't a simple midnight rendezvous. This new dynamic duo rescued several girls not only from the fire, but from human trafficking. While the girls, all from Moscow, could not tell us who were behind the crime, they had plenty to say about their rescuers."

One by one the girls were on screen, their voices overlayed with the English translation: "The Red Hood and Batgirl took us away from the bad men." "The Batman's daughter promised she'd help us." "We were so scared, but they got us out."

It ended with the littlest one: "Red Hood took me out of the fire. He is my hero."

"So many questions remain," Vale's voice returned, "Who is the mysterious Red Hood? Is he a hero or villain? Has he swept the Batgirl off her feet? Considering their hasty exit—"

Her phone rang and she didn't even think to look who it was.

"Hello?"

"Something you wanna tell me, Babs?"

She froze. _There are way too many reasons for that kind of question this week._ "Dick, I don't know what you mean."

"Really? Was there another Batgirl on the news last night?"

Barbara sighed hard. "Alfred really sent it to you? I swear, you two are worse than a knitting circle when it comes to talking about me."

"Alfred didn't send it to me, Barb. Kory caught the rebroadcast when she came in this morning and was nice enough to DVR it so I could wake up to my ex-girlfriend making out with a murderer."

"We weren't making out, Dick." She held back from pointing out he had his mask on.

"You jumped into his arms," he gritted.

"Well I thought it was very romantic, Barbara!" a voice called from the line.

"Kory, this is a private conversation!"

Barbara tried not to laugh. "Well," she said matter-of-factly, "This has been fun, but I have work to do—"

"Babs," he said, "this is serious. Do you even know who this guy is?"

She thought of telling him the truth, but it wasn't really her truth to tell.

"Do I really need to know his name?" she asked before realizing that sounded bad out of context. "Look, he's been helping me with the Ramirez case. I needed someone with Marcotti connections and he and I have gotten really far in it. Isn't Bruce always saying the mission is what matters?"

Dick thought it over. "And that's it? He's just helping with the case?"

"… Yes."

From the silence, Dick didn't seem to buy it. "Be careful."

She rolled her eyes. "You know me, Dick."

"Yeah, I do," he said bitterly, "That's why I'm baffled by this whole thing."

"Jesus, Dick!" she was getting pissed, "I'm an adult and I can handle myself."

"Babs … I know," he sighed, "Look, just tell me if you need help. And don't let your guard down with Hood. He can't be trust—"

"Hey Batsie. Miss me?" Jason called from the open window.

"Wait, is he there? Babs—"

"Talk to you later, Dad!" she said as she hastily closed off the video browser and hung up the phone. She pushed a smile through. "Hey Jason."

"Hey yourself," he walked up to her, leaning over to give her kiss on the lips. She still wasn't prepared for how good he was at that. "I got us lunch," he said as he held up a paper bag from the nearby deli.

"It's 7:00," she noted.

"Dinner then," he smiled and kissed her again. I could get used to this, she thought.

* * *

"Okay," Jason said as he took the last few bites of his sandwich, "so where are we?"

"I've gone through Talon's files," she passed them over to him as she tossed out her empty sandwich wrapper, "But nothing's come up that we don't already know."

"Fuck," he muttered.

"You know what really doesn't make sense, though?" she said, running a hand through her hair, "Why Talon?"

"He was her boyfriend," Jason said.

"No, I mean … the warehouse transfer. He was in charge of it, right? But Talon is a punk." She held up the police files. "He was in and out of prep schools as a kid, he dropped out of college after going on a freshman party binge …"

"I know what you mean," Jason nodded, "I mean, I've trailed a bunch of his family's thugs since I've been back and they think he's pathetic."

"So that begs the question — why in the world would they put someone like Talon in charge of something like that? Even his dad wouldn't just give him a job like that."

"Plus how did they even get that far?" he added. Barbara threw him a confused glance.

"What do you mean?"

Jason leaned over and pointed to one of her files. "See this? The four east coast mob families have a shaky deal when it comes to pretty much all trafficking. Marcottis have Greece and Southern Italy, Maronis have Northern Italy, Takamis have Japan and Taiwan and Parshikovs have Russia. And Russia is the prime human trafficking market."

"So," Barbara thought out loud, "how did the Marcottis get a dozen girls from Russia to Gotham docks."

"My only guess," Jason stood back up and stretched, "is they've made some kind of deal with the Parshikovs, but it would have to have been good — the Russians don't make deals lightly. It makes sense, though … with as few girls as there was, it must have been a sign of trust from the Russians. A test run."

"And it failed," Barb sighed. She put her head in her hands. "God, Talon must be panicking. He's getting backed into a corner and I don't think we have much time before he gets rid of Sonya." The walls were closing in on Barbara as she thought about the life that depended on her. Time was running out and it was all on her …

"Hey Gordon, you OK?"

She looked up to a nervous Jason, complete with lip bite.

"Y-yeah, I just," she rubbed her neck, "I'm just worried it's already too late for her."

Jason knelt down and pushed the hair out of her face. "We'll figure this out, okay?" He kissed her cheek gently and Barbara expected him to pull away, but he didn't. His lips traveled slowly, savoring each kiss — on the corner of her jaw, on her neck and then in the crook of her shoulder. Eyes closed, Barbara decided she had too many sensitive spots and Jason was learning them too quickly.

"Jay," she warned but didn't pull away.

"You need to take a break, Batgirl," he said against her skin, "And I only got to make you come once last night."

"I need to work," she said, tilting her head to give him a better angle.

"20 minute break to clear your head," Jason said, "I'll make it worth your while."

She looked at him for a moment, remembering back to the night before — her legs squeezed together at the memory of him between them. She opened the alarm setting on her phone.

"10 minutes."

"I can do that." Before she could react, he grabbed her wrist and brought her to the couch. Sitting up, she didn't protest as Jason put his hands on her waist and his lips back on her neck. And then he went down on his knees.

His hand got to the zipper of her jeans. "I've wanted to do this to you since I knew you could do this to a girl," he said as if to answer the question in the air. With a couple quick jerks, her jeans were off and tossed aside, but he took his time with her underwear … dragging it down her leg achingly slow before spreading her legs with the palms of his hand and putting them over his shoulder. He stared at her, licking his lips.

"Jay?" she shuttered, "Not to rush you, but we're on a little deadli-" She gasped as his mouth finally, hungrily, met her core.

"Oh holy hell," she got out as he took a long, slow lick, then pressed the flat of his tongue right against the bottom of her clit. But all words failed her when he picked up the pace, flicking her clit and sucking and flicking again. He was insatiable and enthusiastic and god, his tongue. Barbara's hands shot to his hair, holding him in place and giving her some stability. That stability was shattered when he added his fingers inside her. Her head flew back, her back arched and she let out a high octave cry as the orgasm vibrated through her. It was glorious.

Panting along with her, Jason managed to grin against her inner thigh. "Was that fast enough for you, Barbie?"

She nodded vigorously. "I—I think you made it with a few minutes to spare."

"Well in that case," he gave her thigh a love bite, causing another shudder, "I think I can squeeze in another round."

"Jason," she whimpered as he got back into position.

"You know," he said, absentmindedly drawing circles on her hip with his thumb, "you're the only one who knows my name anymore. You better abuse that power as much and as loud as possible."

And then his mouth found her again. Squirming as he started expertly sucking on her clit again, Barbara's mind wandered with Jason's last sexy comment floating in her head. Uses my name anymore. Name anymore. Name.

"_Oh my god._" She sat up too quickly, rushing blood to her head and knocking Jason on his ass.

"What?" he asked, apparently panicked he did something wrong, but she hopped over her and dashed to the computer.

"I've been so stupid," she shook her head as she went deeper into the records.

"What?" Jason repeated.

"This whole time I've been focused on finding out everything about Talon, but—" the computer beeped as it found what she had been searching for. Her eyes scanned the documents and things started to click.

"How long until sundown, Jay?" she asked without turning away from the screen.

"About two hours?"

"Start getting stuff ready. I know where we need to go."

* * *

"Olivia? I'm going home."

"Hm?" She didn't look up from her desk. "What did you say, Sophie?"

"Olivia," Sophie walked towards her even as she was putting on her jacket, "You should go home. No one would blame you if you took off a few days—"

"What good would that do?" She looked up, exasperated, "When I'm home I'm still thinking the same things, still worried about … besides, this paperwork isn't going to do itself."

"Well, if you say so. Just … don't stay too late, OK?"

"See you tomorrow," Olivia said before Sophie turned to walk towards the exit. Suddenly the Gotham Family Insurance office was eerily quiet, the only light coming from the waiting room and her little desk lamp.

"Mrs. Rameriez?" came a voice behind her.

Olivia jumped out of her chair and practically screamed.

"We aren't here to hurt you," Barbara said, her gloves up even as she stepped through the window, "I'm Batgirl. I just need to talk to you."

"Why should I trust you?" the woman snapped.

"Because we're trying to save your daughter, that's why." Jason came into view and with his helmet being as intimating as it was, Barbara just prayed the woman wouldn't notice his gun.

"This is Red Hood," Barb said quickly, "He's a friend."

"Wait," Olivia pointed at him, "I recognize you. From that news story about the fire."

"What news—"

"Mrs. Rameriez," Barbara cut him off before things got way too awkward, "we need to ask you about Sonya."

"It's Ms.," she said with an edge, but sighed and sat down. "What do you need from me?"

Barbara signaled Jason to stay by the window as lookout while she moved towards the woman. "We know Talon took your daughter," she said delicately, "but we've been trying to figure out why. You told the police you had an argument with her before she left?"

"Yes," she nodded, "I didn't … approve of the company she was keeping. She said I couldn't possibly know how she felt, that he wasn't like the rest of his family. I told her that I knew the exact kind of man he was and that I wouldn't let that happen to my little girl. That …" her voice wavered and she began to wring her hands.

"Ms. Rameriez," Barbara said as she knelt down to be face to face with her, "Your daughter is biracial, isn't she?"

The mother paused as tears welling in her eyes, but she eventually nodded.

"Russian?" Barbara asked.

Sonya's mother took a deep breath before confirming with a quiet "Yes." Barbara sighed. _Goddamn it._

"Wait, what?" Jason said from behind them, but Barbara kept her eyes on Olivia.

"Her father was one of the Parshikovs."

She nodded again. "Dmitri. The baby of the family. I had a scholarship at Bludhaven Academy and he and I …"

Barbara let her catch her breath, grabbing a tissue box from a nearby desk and handing one to her.

"Dmitri promised that he'd stay out of trouble, but his family got him started right out of high school. He was in prison for life by the time we were 19. And I found out I was pregnant the week before."

Barbara thought she heard Jason mutter a "shit" behind her.

"Ma'am, did the Parchikovs know you were pregnant?

She shook her head. "I spent a long time hating Dmitri," Olivia continued, "But despite all the promises he broke, he never told his family about Sonya. He said he wanted me to be happy and our son or daughter deserved to get out of his family's shadow. My mother and I left for Gotham as soon as we could. When she died, I swore I would rather it just be Sonya and me than bring her into that life."

"And you never told her about her dad?" Barbara asked.

"No … until this week. When we fought. I told her that her father promised me he was different just like Talon did, but she was going to get her heart broken. She got so mad … told me I lied to her all these years, that I was the one she couldn't trust." She started crying again. "Oh god, what am I going to do if she …"

"We won't let that happen," Barbara enveloped the woman's hands with her own, "Hood and I will find her. We'll bring her home."

Olivia put her head in her hands and rubbed her eyes. "You don't know these people like I do," she said, "How do you expect to get her back safe when—" She looked up only to be alone in the room, the window ajar.

* * *

"So Sonya got upset," Barbara said once they were at their bikes a couple blocks away, "she confided in Talon about the family secret and he was just smart enough to know he could use her."

"It fits, doesn't it," Jason said as he took off his helmet and lit a cigarette, "The Parshikovs get their girl, the Marcottis get their sex workers and Talon gets to prove himself."

"And the only one who loses is Sonya. Even if they aren't going to hurt her, I doubt the Parshikovs will ever let her go back to her mom."

Barbara turned back to Jason to ask a question, but it was lost to her when she realized he was staring.

"What is it?" She furrowed her brow.

"Just … how did you know about the Parshikov connection?"

"It was in the name," Barbara said, grabbing her helmet from the handlebars, "Sonya spells her name with a "y." That's the Russian spelling of it. And when I saw that her mom grew up in Bludhaven and we know from that guy whose finger you broke that Talon is heading the meeting with the Parshikovs … there were just too many coincidences."

Jason shook his head and chuckled.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing. So," Jason took a drag, "where do we go from here, Batgirl?"

She exhaled hard and looked towards the harsh lights of the city. "The meeting with the Parshikovs — that's where they'll be trading her off. Who knows what's going to go down now that the shipment went wrong, but it's the best chance we have to get Sonya. Now we just need to figure out where it's going to go down."

"Right," Jason said as he put out the cigarette, "Well, I've got contacts that can get us more dirt on the Marcottis."

She shook her head and went to her communicator. "We can't let Talon know we're onto him. I'm calling Nightwing."

Jason bristled. "Oh, well of course."

Barbara's eyes narrowed. "Got something to say?"

"Oh no," he said putting back on his helmet, "By all means, call the golden boy. Won't be the first time today, right?"

"What—" but Jason shot off on his motorcycle before she could finish the sentence. She gritted her teeth as she hopped onto her bike to follow him. Goddamn it, Jason.

* * *

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she snapped at him as she pulled off her helmet. She had caught up to him easily, but he had refused to respond through his headset. Even now with the bikes in an alley in Old Town, Jason didn't look back as he started walking down the street.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Batgirl," he said, taking off his helmet to light up again.

"Like hell you don't."

"I'm just checking up on my dear friends, the Angels. You know now that I think about it, why don't you just ask the Wonder Boy for help after all? I'm sure he misses you from this afternoon."

"What, I'm not allowed to talk to Nightwing anymore?" she fumed.

"Yeah, it's not like you lied and pretended he was your dad on the phone right? Oh, I heard you last night too, you know," he continued, "I heard you say you love him. I don't know why I think I even had a—"

"Hey!" she grabbed his arm to make him face her. "First of all, I was going to call him for help because the Parshikovs are based in Bludhaven and that's Nightwing's city."

He didn't say anything, so she continued.

"And for the record," her voice got stronger, "I said I loved him last night because he's my best friend, alright? Do you think I would have slept with you if I was in love with him?"

Jason's eyes soften. "No."

"Well then … knock it off," she said with less of an edge. He cupped her face with his gloved hand.

"Barbie," he whispered, "I—", but he was cut short by a blood curdling scream … coming from the Angels headquarters.


	9. Chapter 9

I don't own DC Comics.

* * *

On instinct, Barbara grabbed his arm and held him back.

"Hood, wait!"

"Barbara," his head snapped to her, "those girls are—"

"I know," she hissed. _This is what happens when you're Batgirl_, she thought. Even with Bruce on the other side of the world, her years of training overrode everything. So even as the scream ripped through the warm night air, those orders stuck in her head. Hold. Don't run in. Access the situation. "But if we storm in there they'll just take the girls as shields! We need to take them out by surprise."

He didn't respond, but she felt the tension in his arm release under her grip. It was something.

"Alright," she exhaled, "We need to get close enough to the window to—"

Her plan was cut off as the doors of the HQ swung open with a bang. Barbara should have seen it coming (sometime between seeing the dozen or so thugs push out of the entrance and noticing the girls struggling in their arms). But it wasn't until she saw poor Jenny's hair being tugged harshly by the man at her side that she realized Jason was already rushing forward.

_Goddamn it, Jason._

"Let them go!" He shouted, his gun pointed at the nearest guy. A couple men let go of whatever Angel they were holding and ran for it out of instinct, but the rest clutched their particular girl a little tighter.

"Back off, helmet … guy," the apparent leader of the group got out, "You're not going to do anything while we still have these girls."

"You really don't know what the fuck I'm capable of, asshole," Jason said.

"Shit, Jerry," one of the guys behind him muttered, "you didn't tell me this was Hood's turf."

"Is that supposed to mean something to us, Rod?"

"Let the girls go," Jason repeated with a snarl.

"Sure sure, Mr. Hood!" Rod said with his hands up, a weak smile on his face as he stammered, "I was just showing my buddies a good time — they're new you see and we were over in this area already and I thought they could use some … I didn't know these were your girls, okay?"

Jerry looked over at his friend in confusion, stumbling a bit as he put his weight against the terrified girl in his arms. "Rod, why the fuck you whimpering?"

Jason didn't hesitate. "Because Rod is smart enough to know not to fuck with me." He got out his gun. "Do you really want a first hand account of why that is?"

_Dear lord, he is not making things better_, Barbara thought, panic creeping up into her before eying tan skin and khaki shorts in her peripheral. Annika. She could hear the girls crying and struggling in the thugs' arms, but her attention was on their leader, who had been smart enough to move slowly against the nearest wall. With a single shared look, Barb knew what she needed to do.

"There are lots of strip clubs in this city," Barbara said, her hands up. "Just let the girls go and you fine men can go about your business and we can forget all about this." That's right, Gordon. Play the reasonable one.

"I don't think I want to let them off that easy, Batsie," Jay gritted.

The loud one grimaced. "Yeah, shut up, you stupid b—"

"I dare you to finish that sentence, fucker," he responded, his body tense as he cocked his gun. Goddamn it, Jason, she silently swore.

"Jerry," Rod said, tugging his buddy's sleeve, "this is the guy that took Falcone's business … he's the guy who took their heads."

Barbara raised her eyebrows at Jason. "Heads?" Before Jason could answer, one of the other guys piped up.

"Wait, that's Batgirl," he said, apparently only then noticing the big bat on her chest, "Jer, remember what the boss said?" The way the leader and the rest of his men grinned turned her stomach.

"Missy, you have some people looking for you and your helmet boyfriend."

Barb could feel Jason's eyes on her, but her mind was too busy — they were just dealt their hand and if she could play it just right …

One look from Annika still in the shadows and they were on the same page.

"Okay!" Barbara said as mousy as she could manage, "We don't want any trouble, we swear!" Her voice wavered with the plea. At some point in the last moment Jason had turned to face her in shock, but she added (in an even weaker voice), "Why don't we just get in our car and you can follow us …"

"Oh hell no, missy," Jerry sneered, "You're coming with us." Quick to get at Barb herself, the asshole released Jenny. That was the good news — following the first's lead, the thugs were pushing the Angels to the side (Annika silently motioning them back into the building). The bad news was that Barbara and Jason were quickly getting surrounded by the dozen or so men, all of whom pulled out either knives, guns or brass knuckles.

"What are you thinking?" she muttered as she accessed their bearings.

"Worse than that warehouse raid with the skinheads, better than our trip to Istanbul?"

"No, I mean you thinking back to back?"

"Considering I plan to shoot some of these assholes? Yeah, stay at my back."

"Non-fatal, Hood," she hissed.

"You're no fun, Batsie," he managed to get out before the gang lunged forward.

Pivoting to the side, she grabbed the first thug's wrist and threw him into the next one. Parry. Jab. Left hook to the ribs and another one fell with a harsh thud. She could feel Jason to her back, handling everything out of her peripheral. It felt so natural, so much so that when she saw a flash of silver aimed at him, what happened next is just instinct — shoulder roll and twist and heel strike to the nose. A little extra adrenaline hit her brain and it was better than sex. Just a breath away, she could hear Jay's laugh burn through her.

"I gotta say," he panted and jabbed a thug in the throat and laughed, "I missed watching you work."

Snapping towards him, she only afforded him one pissed off glare before turning back and kicking another guy in the gut.

"What?" he asked, far too calmly pistol whipping the next target, "You can't still be mad about earlier."

"I can't— you accused me of being in love with Nightwing!" she shouted.

"That's not—"

"And then sleeping with you!"

"Wait—"

"All because I gave him a phone call!"

"It's not because of the phone call!" He head butted a thug and threw him to the ground.

"Okay, it's mostly not because of the phone call!"

"So what the hell is it, Hood?!"

"He left you, okay?! I'm pissed that he left you!"

She hesitated just slightly before remembering that she had the last guy in a headlock. With a hard blow to the skull, the man collapsed out of her arms. Silence fell (save for a few groans from the foes still feeling pain in unconsciousness) and they were both just standing there, arms at their sides.

"What," she started, "what are you—"

"After you were shot," he said, still a good 10 feet away from her, "he didn't come see you after you were shot."

"How did you—"

"Hospital records. Big case like the commissioner's daughter, they keep strict visitor records. Bruce came. Alfred came. Fucking Selina came, for christ's sake."

Barbara wasn't sure what to say. The few moments she remembered from her month in the hospital were hazy at best — friendly faces had blurred between the unbelievable pain and the mindless floating of the pain killers. Dick and Kory had been there with big smiles for her welcome home party; she had always assumed … "He came to see me at home. And he was with Starfire by then."

"Doesn't fucking matter!" He said, throwing up his arms, "The other night when you told me what happened to you, I felt sick inside because I wasn't there for you. I-if I hadn't died, I would have been there." She wasn't sure when he had moved towards her, but now they were just inches apart. His head is tilted down and even with his mask on she can tell he's not looking her in the eye. " Even if we were just what we were," he whispered, his glove skimming her forearm at her side, "I wouldn't have left your side."

She stared at where the glove touched her suit and was just about to tilt her head up to face him when he whipped his gun up. For the smallest moment, she believed he was raising it to shoot her; she flinched as a flash of pancake makeup and a red-lipped smile hits her. She barely realized it when the gun fired, missing her by a mile. She turns in time to see the thugs' leader collapsing in pain behind her. Jason wasn't aiming at her … of course he wasn't aiming at her.

It took a moment for As her panic subsided, she realized Jason was no longer by her side. It was only when she heard a hard thud that she realized Jason had the man against the nearest wall.

"Hm," Jason looked behind his shoulder, his forearm still on the man's collarbone, "Looks like your friends abandoned you, Jerry. If I were you I wouldn't invite those boys to your birthday party." He was right; while a couple men were passed out in the street, Barbara could hear the footsteps of the other men fading into the night.

"P—please," the man whimpered.

"Is that how my girls said it?" Jason gritted, "Did they beg you to let them go?" Jerry gurgled as Jason pushed hard on his trachea, but Jay continued. "You think you can touch my girls?" He practically snarled. "Would you have listened to their begging before —"

"Hood!" Barbara finally found her footing and grabbed onto Jason's arm to steady him. "Don't do it."

His head snapped to her, but she cut him off with two words.

"Please, baby?" Her voice was high, much more like her little girl voice she had used before the fight to entice the thugs to come after them. She thanked her lucky stars when the tension in his neck released in understanding.

"You know," he said as he snapped his attention back to the man still squirming under his grip, "I'd like to kill you right here and now, but I really don't like making my girl upset. So instead of shooting you in the head right now," he got out the gun and put it to the man's temple, "I'm going to give you a chance to tell us what you know first." The man just nodded, wincing as his shoulder wound continued to bleed.

"You said my girl and I have prices on our heads from your boss," Jason said, "Who are you working for?"

"Marcotti's," the guy coughed. Barbara tensed, but let Jason lead.

"Why?"

"I just got into town, the fuck would I know?" the other man spat out. Jason retaliated by pressing harder on the shoulder, making the guy cry out. "Okay okay!" He exhaled hard as Jason let up. "They're pissed you found out about their Pirius thing. Fucked everything up and they want to know how you found out about the shipment."

They don't know, she thought with a hard breath. Holy shit, they have no idea we're after anything but their human trafficking. Barbara squeezed Jason's arm, hoping her partner had figured it out. Apparently he had because—

"Alright, pal," Jason sneered, "You get one. Single. Warning." He pressed the gun a little harder into the man's temple, making the man wince. "You're going to go out and tell all your little buddies that are new in town about tonight. You're going to tell them that Red Hood won't be played. And you can tell Marcus Marcotti himself that his dip into sex trafficking ended last night."

There was no denying the dangerous weight in his tone — it was the most Red Hood she had seen him. It worked; the man whimpered.

"Oh, and one more thing." Jason's voice lowered to a growl. "If you touch the Angels or ever threaten Batgirl again," he leaned in nose-to-nose with the thug, "I will cut out your tongue. Are we clear?"

After a cowardly nod, the man was finally released and hobbled into the dark. It was only when the bastard was completely out of sight that Jason turned back to her. Awkward silence filled the night air.

"Are… " Jason started, "are you—"

"Hood!" Holly ran out from the HQ doorway. "Is everything okay?"

Jason tensed again. "Let me see Annika. Now."

* * *

"Don't be mad at them," Annika sighed as she handed out the ice pack to the girls huddled in a group. They all looked at their hands sheepishly, afraid to look Hood in the eye as they shuffled out of the kitchen. Staying neutral by standing on the other side of the entryway, Barb watched as Jason moved further into the room to face the madam.

"Those were rookie mistakes, An," he said irritably.

"This was my fault," she snapped, her hands on the table, "The long-term girls were out and I needed to leave for a few minutes. These newbies haven't been trained on HQ protocol and haven't gotten their defense lessons in." She shrugged. "They weren't ready to turn johns away."

His hand hit the table at her laise faire attitude — Barbara jumped a little. "We can't dick around anymore, An," Jason stressed, "Those bastards were all new to town and new blood is being brought in every week."

Annika stayed still, her features softening as comprehension set in. "We need to solidify our reputation. "

"Exactly. We were lucky tonight—"

"But we can't show weakness," she said, pushing off the table to stand up straight. "Understood." She moved to leaving the room but stopped in her tracks when Jason grabbed her arm.

"I do trust you, An," he said softly, "And I know the girls can handle themselves."

She smiled. "I know you know." Annika looked up and made eye contact with Barbara. "But I'm guessing there was a reason you were in the neighborhood."

Barb spoke up. "It looks like we need more information on—"

"No," Jason shook his head. "We just came by to check in." The silence was deafening and it was clear Annika could feel the tension in the room. Leaning back down, she whispered something to Jason before finally walking out.

"I'll leave you two to your business," she finished. She quickly left the room, presumably to go check on her girls. After a moment, it was Jason who finally broke the quiet.

"I need to get work done," he stood and looked right at Barbara, "And you have to call your source."

Source. Grayson. "R-right," she finally nodded as he faced her.

"We'll rendezvous tomorrow to plan everything out, alright?" he said as he gently squeezed the curve of her waist. She cursed how Jay towered over her these days. She cursed the shot of lightening that hit her belly at his touch. She closed her eyes and tried to calm the flittering of her pulse. He left without another word, the front door now ajar. Barbara took a deep breath and counted to ten. She got out her phone and dialed Dick's cell, but it just kept ringing.

"Come on, Dick," she muttered under her breath.

"M-miss Batgirl?"

Turning to her left, she discovered the voice belonged to a jumpy woman about her age. Maybe a little younger, but it was hard to tell between the makeup and the bags under her eyes. Like the other Angels, she showed a good amount of skin, but Barbara noted the girl was doing her best to cover a nasty bruise on her arm with her opposite hand. Barbara only took a step forward, giving the girl plenty of space.

"I just," the nervous thing started, "I'm Kensie."

Barbara blinked.

"Well it's just that Hoodie told me— well actually he told Annika who Holly heard and then Holly told me," the girl rambled, wringing her hands, "What is mean is, you were the one who talked to Bobby about leaving me alone?"

Barbara had a flash of a gunshot echoing in an alley and a terrified face looking up at her. "Oh," she nodded, "Kensie, right. Yeah, that was me."

There was an awkward pause. Barbara's mind flickered to the phone call she'd be needing to make.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, but I need—"

Before she realized what was happening, arms flung around Barbara and she was pulled into a tight hug. She tasted hairspray as she inhaled a mouthful of the girl's strawberry blond hair.

"He came to our door this morning," Kensie said into her armored shoulder, "I thought he was going to cause more trouble, but he just handed me the parental rights papers and left. I just … I never thought we'd be rid of him, you know?"

The words sinking in, Barbara relaxed into the hug, rubbing the girl's back. "I'm just glad everything turn out okay."

Kensie pulled back with a sheepish smile. "Well, thanks," she said as she wiped away her tears.

"Anytime," she smiled back. Barbara's smile stayed with her as she made her way back to her apartment and, knowing she was alone, finally pulled out her phone and called Grayson's apartment.

"Hello?" a very not-Dick Grayson voice answered.

"Hey Kory," she said as she pulled off her cowl, "Is Dick around?"

"Oh Barbara!" her friend cooed from the other end of the line, "I have missed you!"

"I've missed you too, Kory. Is Dick there?"

"Oh, I wish you could have seen Milan. Next time I go on a locale shoot, I am taking you along."

"…Yeah, okay," Barbara said, "But I really need to talk to Dick and he didn't answer his phone."

There was a pause, which did not bode well. "Um…" Kory finally responded, "Well, I am afraid Richard isn't here, but he said…"

"What did he say?" Barbara asked with a glare.

"… He said he did not wish to speak to you," the princess answered meekly.

"Is that so?" Barb gritted.

"I am so sorry, Barbara!" she gushed. "He said … he said he did not appreciate your conversation from earlier and how you hung up on him. I believe he just worries about you and is afraid you could be in trouble …"

With each passing word, Barbara could tell Kory was highly abridging Dick's actual words; she was trying to spare her dear friend's feelings of course, and any other time Barbara would be grateful and a little amused by her sweetness, but time was of the essence.

"Kory," she finally cut off her friend, "Please listen to me. This isn't about Dick and I arguing — did Dick tell you about the case I'm working?"

A moment of contemplation before Barbara heard, "Yes, he did."

"The Parchikovs are the key to the whole thing, Kor. I need to know where and when they're meeting tomorrow night and I only trust Dick to get the information without tipping them off. Whatever his feelings about me right now—"

"This is more important," the alien princess agreed. "I shall call him immediately and relay your message. And if Richard protests … well, I won't let him get away with his pouting."

"You're the best, Kory," Barbara sighed in relief.

"Yes, I know. Rest up and expect a call in the morning."

* * *

She'd hung up with Kory an hour ago-and she was supposed to be in bed. She was supposed to be fast asleep, preparing her body and mind for the next day and the challenges of saving Sonya. She should have been in bed, but instead she was in her civvies looking up towards a still lit four story window. As she climbed the rusting fire escape, she just knew she needed to see him.

The window was wide open, allowing her to pass through and walk towards him without a sound. He stood facing away from her, replacing the bandages on his injuries from the warehouse the night before. Her eyes were drawn to his well-defined back muscles, which tempted her deliciously with each slight movement. She took another step forward.

"Not going to say hi, Barbie?" he said, still facing away from her. She stopped in her tracks.

"Hi," she said.

"Hi," he turned to look at her.

Another awkward silence — this night seemed to be full of them.

"Is there a reason for this visit, Batgirl?" Jason eyed her up and down calmly before walking towards the kitchen with first aid kit in hand.

"I was wondering something," she managed.

"Shoot."

Watching those pesky back muscles ripple as he moved to open the freezer, she found her fingers playing with the hem of her worn GPD t-shirt as she thought through her response. Her voice came out softer than she would have liked, but she finally spoke just as he was turning to face her. "Why … did you tell me to call Dick?"

He stopped in his tracks. "Is this really a question that couldn't have waited until morning?"

She stood a little straighter. "I think it's a fair question considering you accused me of being in love with him earlier tonight."

"Hey, I apologized for that!"

"No you didn't!" Granted, he might have if they weren't interrupted by the thugs, but she didn't need to point that out.

"Well," he huffed, but couldn't figure out a retort. He finally just rubbed his face.

"Look," he ran a hand through his hair in that rather infuriating way of his, "I'm not Dickiebird's biggest fan. Yeah I got jealous and that was stupid. But I'm not going to risk that girl's life for something like that — not when the Marcottis think we're onto them for something unrelated."

"Oh." His words sunk into her and Barbara couldn't help but be a little shocked. It was a mature response. An adult response. And she found herself admiring the man in front of her in a way she never quite expected.

"Okay, will you please say something here, Barbie?" he said as he shifted from one foot to the other, "Because I can't read you right now and you're giving me this look like you—"

She cut the distance between them in three steps, pulling him by the neck and bringing his lips to hers.

_He can apologize in the morning._


End file.
